Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Zimbabwean opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and several other members of his party were detained by the police in the capital, Harare, on Wednesday, said party officials and lawyers.

"Mr Tsvangirai was about to address a press conference on the abduction of Ian Makoni [MDC party member] and his wife last night [Tuesday], when the police came and cordoned the road outside the MDC head office and picked up every single person in the office," said Tendai Biti, MDC secretary-general. He could not confirm the number of people in the office at the time.

Otto Saki, an attorney with Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, an NGO that defends victims of rights abuses, confirmed that Tsvangirai and other opposition members had been "arrested". "But we still don't know on what grounds, and we have not been allowed to access them."

Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena, the national police spokesman, has confirmed that the police raided the MDC office and "picked up some people last night" (Tuesday), but denied that Tsvangirai was in custody.

"Tsvangirai was not among the people we picked up this morning as part of our campaign to look for perpetrators of violence," he told IRIN.

Zimbabwe has been simmering for the past two months, as ordinary people battle with shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency, as well as an annual inflation rate of more than 1,700 percent.

But the situation has taken a violent turn since the police imposed a ban on political rallies last month. After an opposition supporter was shot dead by the police and opposition leaders, including Tsvangirai, were allegedly beaten while in custody, strikes and protests have given way to bombings of police stations across the country.

Neither Saki nor Biti have been able to establish where Tsvangirai or the other MDC party members were being held. More details are awaited.