Harare — Observers from the Commonwealth on Thursday condemned the Zimbabwean army’s deadly use of force to break up protests in Harare by opposition supporters claiming a presidential election had been rigged by the governing party. Former colonial power Britain said it was deeply concerned by the situation, while the UN earlier called for restraint from all sides in the bloody aftermath to Monday’s election. President Emmerson Mnangagwa meanwhile said he had been talking to opposition leader Nelson Chamisa to try to defuse tensions after clashes on the streets of Harare in which troops opened fire on opposition demonstrators, killing three. The streets were calm on Thursday morning although many shops were shuttered in the city centre. But the dispute over the conduct of the elections and the subsequent violence has punctured the euphoria over the army’s removal of long-standing strongman Robert Mugabe last November and the hope that Zimbabwe might be entering a new era of democra...
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