MDC leader Tsvangirai at it again in South Africa 
	
	
 Herald Reporter 
	
	
 OPPOSITION youths are agitating to get guns to "shoot" President Mugabe "out of office," MDC leader, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai said in South Africa yesterday. 
	
	
 Speaking in an address to the Cape Town Press club, Mr Tsvangirai, who is on a visit to South Africa, was quoted by Reuters as saying he was having to "rein in militants keen to fight President Mugabe's rule". 
	
	
 "The first choice is to commit ourselves to the constitutional path with all its obstacles. We are saying we will not resort to any violent overthrow or to any violent means," he was quoted as having said. 
	
	
 "...You have people who are 20 years and 30 years (and) below who are asking if we can get guns and go and shoot the man out of office, but I say: Please, that is the most dangerous thing you can ever do," he said. 
	
	
 Mr Tsvangirai endorsed a United States proposal for targeted sanctions against President Mugabe and members of his Government but said full economic sanctions would be a ruinous mistake. 
	
	
 The US Congress is set to consider the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Bill, which seeks to impose sanctions on Harare. 
	
	
 Mr Tsvangirai called for international action to ensure a free and fair presidential election. 
	
	
 But he opposed any steps that could plunge the country deeper into a recession that has already pushed unemployment, inflation and interest rates above 60 percent. 
	
	
 "If sanctions are imposed on Zimbabwe, it will not survive. That is why, as MDC, we are reluctant at this stage to endorse the sanctions option. 
	
	
 "Until such time as Mugabe actually subverts the electoral process - when one goes to that extreme, international sanctions will be an option. 
	
	
 "However, we do support certain limitations on the villains of the crisis in Zimbabwe," he said. 
	
	
 Mr Tsvangirai might face charges of contravening the Law and Order Maintenance Act for allegedly threatening to violently remove President Mugabe from power last year. 
	
	
 His trial was set to start at the High Court in May but the case was referred to the High Court after he challenged the legality of LOMA in the Supreme Court. 
	
	
 The superior court has since heard State and defence arguments on the legality of the charges being laid against the opposition leader and reserved judgment. 
	
	
 If the Supreme Court rules in favour of Mr Tsvangirai, who if convicted on the charges might face life imprisonment, the Attorney General's Office will have to draw up a new charge. 
	
	
 But if the appeal fails, the matter will be referred back to the High Court for trial. 
	
	
 Charges against the MDC leader arose after he allegedly told a crowd at the party's first anniversary last year that "... Zvatichada, what we would like to tell Mugabe today is that... please go peacefully. If you don't want to go peacefully, we will remove you violently." 
	
	
 That according to the State constituted a breach of the LOMA. 
	
	
 The MDC leader also alleged that the Government was trying to provoke protests that could be used as an excuse to suspend democracy. 
	
	
 But analysts expressed concern that the MDC leader is "flirting with mercenaries in South Africa". 
	
	
 "But anyone who wants to speak the language of violence where Zimbabwe is concerned is playing with fire. Zimbabwe's performance in Mozambique, Somalia and the DRC speaks for itself. 
	
	
 "The quickest defeat of Tsvangirai and his MDC lot would come if they chose the path of violence," an analyst who spoke on condition of anonymity said.