HARARE -- Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has accused Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe of deliberately withholding food from some areas of the drought-ravaged country as punishment for not voting the correct way in March's election. 
	
	
 Mr. Tsvangirai, the 50-year-old leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, alleged in an interview that a starvation policy is part of a major campaign of retribution the ruling ZANU-PF has waged against him and his supporters. 
	
	
 He also spoke about the support his country's opposition movement has received from abroad, and his pending trial on treason charges, both issues with Canadian connections. But he focused on the violence and hunger that have plagued many Zimbabweans since the controversial presidential election, at least in part a state-orchestrated operation aimed at crushing the opposition, he said. 
	
	
 "I feel very strongly for these people," Mr. Tsvangirai said. "This is just the pursuance of a vendetta. The situation has escalated wildly since the election. It's part of Mugabe's grand strategy to target the MDC's supporter base." 
	
	
 He said the situation is worst in southern Zimbabwe, where opposition to ZANU-PF is strongest. 
	
	
 "The first targets are the farmers and their workers, then rural-area sympathizers," he said. 
	
	
 The United Nations World Food Program warned last week that as many as 1.5 million Zimbabweans face starvation from the drought, compounded by government-sponsored invasions of white-owned commercial farms that have crippled production of maize and wheat. Ground corn, known locally as "mealie meal," is the staple diet of millions of Zimbabweans who can afford little else. 
	
	
 Mr. Mugabe acknowledged the country's agricultural problems last week, declaring a "state of disaster" brought on by drought and sabotage by white farmers. He made no reference to the economic upheaval caused by the farm invasions, but the government says it is trying to import supplies from South Africa, China, Argentina and Brazil. 
	
	
 Because of restrictions on foreign reporters in Zimbabwe, it was impossible to obtain direct government comment on Mr. Tsvangirai's allegations. But non-governmental organizations operating in the country also said they have been seeing evidence of discriminatory food distribution. 
	
	
 "Food is now a major issue," said Shari Eppel of Amani Trust, a human-rights organization. ". . . We have come across cases of people having to have a ZANU-PF card before they are allowed to buy from the Grain Marketing Board," which is the body that controls imports and sales. 
	
	
 In the southwestern region of Matabeleland, for example, cases have been reported where people had to go through a "cleansing" routine to purge them of their MDC sympathies before being allowed to buy corn. 
	
	
 "According to reports we have received, they are taken to the police to denounce the MDC, then to the war veterans, where they go through a public confession," Mrs. Eppel said. "Then they are taken to the local headman to be kept under observation. After a few days, he decides if they can be allowed to buy grain from the GMB." 
	
	
 Meanwhile, Mr. Tsvangirai alleged, the land-reform plan, nominally launched to resettle one million poor families, is actually putting commercial farms in the hands of presidential cronies and members of the ruling party elite. 
	
	
 He said beneficiaries of the program have included government ministers, MPs, army and police officials -- even Mr. Mugabe's in-laws. 
	
	
 "The situation we see now is what I call the Last Supper -- it is ZANU-PF's final feast," Mr. Tsvangirai said. "It is a case of take what you can while you can. " 
	
	
 The opposition leader commended Canada and other countries for invoking sanctions against Mr. Mugabe's regime. But he said Zimbabwe's future rests largely with its own people. 
	
	
 "The international community can support us so far, but it can never remove the shackles of repression," he said. "The burden really lies with Zimbabweans to fight peacefully for their own freedom." 
	
	
 He said the violence, hunger and economic turmoil are strengthening his country's appetite for a public campaign for change. 
	
	
 "There is no struggle without casualties, but we don't want to engineer any reckless action," he cautioned. ". . . A systematic, strategic program of mass mobilization is necessary to confront a stolen victory and an illegitimate government." 
	
	
 Mr. Tsvangirai also touched on his own legal battle with the government: On May 31, he is to stand trial on a charge of treason, accused of plotting to have Mr. Mugabe assassinated. 
	
	
 The opposition leader has denied the charge all along, and although he was reluctant to go into depth about a case still before the courts, he did make brief reference to the prosecution's star witness, Montreal-based consultant and former Israeli intelligence agent Ari Ben-Menashe, who may or may not travel to Zimbabwe for the trial. 
	
	
 "If the prosecution's key witness is reluctant to testify, how will they proceed?" Mr. Tsvangirai asked. "There is no case to answer."