Police raid Zimbabwe opposition, observers

(CNN) -- Hundreds of armed police raided the offices of Zimbabwe's main opposition party and independent election observers on Friday amid the continuing turmoil caused by the delay in releasing results.

The police seized computers and documents from the Movement for Democratic Change party headquarters and arrested about 360 people, the majority of whom were refugees who had fled the countryside, Secretary-General Tendai Biti told CNN from South Africa.

Speaking by phone from Johannesburg, Biti said those arrested included "pregnant women and very young children, babies. Those arrested also include key members of staff, and some of our politicians."

He said he had received his information from eyewitnesses.

A police spokesman said 200 people were picked up at MDC headquarters, known as Harvest House. Watch CNN's report on the police's MDC raid. »

"We haven't arrested them officially. We are busy screening them and keeping those whom we are interested in," Wayne Bvudzijena said.

Biti called the police account "a fiction and a lie." Were you there? Send us your pictures, videos.

"They brought heavily armed personnel to the office of an unarmed civilian organization, and I ask you why are they going there? And what is the legal reason? They brought in hundreds of policemen to arrest the civilians, basically refugees," he said.

Biti also said that police were not writing up reports of complaints from the MDC "for fear of documenting this, for keeping records."

A journalist, who asked not to be named because of threats to his safety, earlier told CNN that police, who arrived in several trucks and a bus, took away several people from the MDC offices in Harare who were "limping and in pain."

Referring to those injured people, Bvudzijena said, "What are they doing at Harvest House if they were injured? It is not a hospital. It's folly on the part of the MDC to keep people who have been injured. Those cases should be reported so that investigations can commence."

Results of the presidential race, in which MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai claims to have defeated longtime leader Robert Mugabe, have not been announced almost four weeks after Zimbabweans voted. View a timeline of the controversial elections »

Zimbabwean police also raided on Friday offices of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network -- an independent election observation group -- in Harare, according to one of its program managers.

Tsungai Kokerai of electoral observation group ZESN told CNN that several police officers had arrived in their Harare offices with a search warrant looking for "subversive material."

The police were "taking away documents and cd's, anything to do with our activities," she said.

She said police had asked her to accompany them to the police station. They had not made any arrests, she said.

ZESN chairman Noel Kututwa told AP that police wanted to arrest him and his deputy Rindai Chipfunde-Vava, but they were away from the office and were now in hiding.

ZESN is a group of non-governmental organizations that monitored Zimbabwe's March 29 elections. In lieu of any official results, ZESN released exit polling data that showed Tsvangirai leading with more than 49 percent of the vote -- short of the 50 percent plus one vote needed to avoid a runoff election.

According to the group's data, President Mugabe was second with 41.8 percent and independent candidate Simba Makoni garnered 8.2 percent of the vote.

Meanwhile, the journalist present during the raid on the MDC offices told CNN there was an expectation that the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission may release the presidential vote results soon.

"There is a little frustration and anger, but there is nothing much they can do because security is pretty much on top of the situation," he said.

Tsvangirai is still away from Zimbabwe, having been in Mozambique on Wednesday as he continued to seek support from African leaders.

Mugabe attended the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair in Bulawayo on Friday and spoke about his land redistribution policies where white-owned farms are given to black Zimbabweans.

Mugabe promotes the policy saying black Zimbabweans were cheated under colonial rule.

"It is our land, our treasure ... this is our land now, and forever," Mugabe said. "Please know that Zimbabwe has a history and heritage that will never, that will never be for sale. Zimbabwe is not for sale."

The number of white-owned farms in Zimbabwe, once in the thousands, has dwindled to about 400. Most of the redistributed land is not being harvested and many analysts blame Zimbabwe's current economic collapse -- including staggering inflation and 80 percent unemployment -- on the farm seizures.

On Thursday, the top U.S. envoy to Africa claimed that Tsvangirai won the disputed presidential election and insisted that Mugabe should step down.

Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer said: "My preferred option would be that the will of the people will be accepted. That Mr. Mugabe does the honorable thing and steps down." Watch Frazer's strong statement on Mugabe »

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown; Jacob Zuma, the leader of South Africa's governing party; and Human Rights Watch have all criticized the election and its aftermath. But Frazer is one of the first U.S. officials to take such an emphatic stance on the issue.

Zimbabwe is locked in a political crisis as the government refuses to release the results of an election that opposition leaders claim as a victory for Tsvangirai.

A recount is currently taking place for the presidential election and a partial recount of the parliamentary votes.

The MDC says Tsvangirai won the election. Mugabe's Zanu-PF party alleges that the opposition is engaged in election tampering. E-mail to a friend

CNN's Kim Norgaard contributed to this report.

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