<img title="Image: http://www.myvivvo.com/thumbnail.php?file=art.tsvangirai.gi_890932285.jpg&amp;size=article_medium" src="http://www.myvivvo.com/thumbnail.php?file=art.tsvangirai.gi_890932285.jpg&amp;size=article_medium" alt="Tsvangirai returns home despite plot fears">
										
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								<span>Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai returned to 
Zimbabwe Saturday for the first time since leaving the country shortly 
after the controversial March 29 election.<br><br>Tsvangirai -- who 
contends he won the presidential race against longtime Zimbabwe leader 
Robert Mugabe -- returned despite what his party said was a plot by the 
country's military to assassinate him and other party leaders.<br><br>The
 Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, after a long delay, ruled that neither 
candidate won a necessary majority of the vote and set a date of June 27
 for Tsvangirai to again face Mugabe in a runoff vote.<br><br>Tsvangirai
 and his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have called for 
international observers to be allowed to monitor the runoff election, 
but Mugabe's government has refused the demand.<br><br>Tsvangirai is expected to tour hospitals in Harare to visit victims of post-election violence.<br><br>An
 MDC spokesman said two party members were found dead Wednesday night 
after being abducted from their homes in the Zimbabwean capital of 
Harare.<br><br>Tsvangirai's spokesman George Sibotshiwe said Saturday 
that the opposition leader and the entire MDC leadership are "at risk 
from this brutal regime." When contacted by CNN, a Cabinet member denied
 that the government had any possible role in the alleged plot, and said
 the report was an effort by the MDC to gain international sympathy.<br><br>Chen
 Chimutengwende, Zimbabwe's minister of public and interactive affairs, 
accused Tsvangirai of "trying to paint a false picture of what Zimbabwe 
and Zimbabwe authorities are like."<br><br>"There is no plot against him
 and there has never been any plot against him and he knows that," 
Chimutengwende said. He called the reports from Tsvangirai's party "an 
effort to get sympathy from the international community."<br><br>There 
have been numerous reports from the MDC and church groups since the 
March balloting about kidnappings, torture, and other violence, 
including the deaths of opposition party members. They say the violence 
targets opponents of Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party.<br><br>Mugabe has ruled the southern African country since it became independent 28 years ago. <br></span>
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