The meeting agreed that the situation on the ground was very volatile and now demanded stern measures to control. CIO director-general (Happyton Bonyongwe) agreed with Mugabe and suggested that the best way to redress the volatile situation would be through declaration of a state of emergency.

“Bonyongwe said such a move would scare the public and make them stay away from active show of anger towards the state,” said an intelligence source.

Defence forces chief Constantine Chiwenga, Air Force of Zimbabwe boss Perence Shiri, army commander Phillip Sibanda, Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi, Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi and Vice President Joseph Msika all attended the meeting that stretched well into the night. But the security ministers are said to have told Mugabe to use “maximum force without officially declaring a state of emergency” saying Zimbabwe would be viewed as unstable even by fellow African countries if it declared a state of emergency.

Mugabe however insisted that a state of emergency remained an option and would monitor the situation for a month before deciding the next course of action.

At the same meeting, Mugabe appointed State Security Minister and trusted confidante Didymus Mutasa to oversee an elaborate security plan designed to counter opposition protests against his rule. Under the plan, the army and the police would with immediate effect establish an active reserve force to deal with imminent opposition protests.

“Part of it (the security plan) would see the boosting of police and military numbers through the immediate injection of manpower. Mugabe has made Mutasa his point man on this,” said a source.

Contacted for comment, Mutasa did not deny the security plan only saying: “As security minister obviously my main concern would be to ensure that security prevails.”

The new security plan is separate from the already existing Joint Operations Command that groups together security chiefs from the army, intelligence and the police.

<I>© 2006 Zim Online</I>

TORTURED

<B>Tsvangirai in intensive care unit</B>

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was on Wednesday admitted into the intensive care unit at a private hospital in Harare with a suspected broken skull. Tsvangirai’s spokesperson, William Bango, told ZimOnline that Tsvangirai was battling for his life and that doctors had scanned his head as they suspected that it cracked during last weekend’s torture.“He is at the Avenues Clinic with a broken skull. Doctors are investigating a suspected crack in his skull. We are waiting for the results right now,” said Bango. Tsvangirai’s spokesman said the MDC leader had been given two pints of blood as he had lost too much blood during his dastard ordeal at the hands of the police. “He’s on drip,” he added. Alec Muchadehama, one of Tsvangirai’s lawyers said no charges have been preferred against his client. “They were all released to our custody. If they have a case, of which I doubt, the state has to proceed with a way of summons,” said Muchadehama. Tsvangirai, Arthur Mutambara and several other opposition activists were released into the custody of their lawyers recently. They were expected in court this morning.