Zimbabwe Police, Military Put on Show of Force

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 5:31 a.m. EST

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwean police and troops are putting on a show of force in the capital as calls for protests against the longtime authoritarian ruler appear to have gone unheeded.

Armored cars, trucks of riot police and Israeli-built water cannon vehicles have swept through Harare since Saturday, fanning out into townships around the city. Authorities have given no official explanation for the display of force.

Messages, many of them anonymous, posted on Zimbabwean websites called for protests Tuesday but there has been no open campaigning for demonstrators to turn out on the streets. Some 15 percent of Zimbabweans have access to the Internet and social networking sites.

President Robert Mugabe is scheduled to address a mass rally in central Harare on Wednesday.