Violence in Zanzibar stops voter registration

The electoral body in Tanzania's semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar stopped registering voters on Tuesday following a number of violenet political incidents, including an attack on a registration centre near the capital Stone Town. The Zanzibar Electoral Commission said voter registration was being suspended for a few days to "avoid unnecessary friction". Tensions are rising between supporters of two main parties, the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and the Civic United Front (CUF), the main opposition party. Zanzibari voters are scheduled to take part in national elections in October along with voters in the rest of Tanzania. The Zanzibar Urban West regional police commander, George Kizuguto, said the home of CUF leader Abbas Muhunzi was attacked and set ablaze on Sunday. "Muhunzi, his wife and five children escaped unhurt although his elderly father was beaten by assailants with iron bars," Kizuguto added. On Monday, a crowd of some 400 people attempted to break into a voter registration centre. Unofficially, the Zanzibar police said the people were CUF supporters disgruntled over what they claimed to be voter registration fraud. CUF representatives have been complaining that the CCM was taking hundreds of people from mainland Tanzania to Zanzibar, and that they were illegally registering as voters on the island. "The crowd refused to let us have access to the main entrance of the registration centre and refused to heed our call to let us pass," Ali Suluhu, a policeman, told IRIN. Nine people were arrested, Suluhu said. Some were armed with machetes, clubs and stones.