The hunger striker is an organising secretary and election co-ordinator for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) - led by Morgan Tsvangirai.

BBC: NEWS | UK | England | Oxfordshire | Failed asylum seeker found dead

Mugabe's ZANU-PF party and the Movement for Democratic Change, led by Tsvangirai, have failed to implement the September 15 power-sharing deal because they cannot agree on who should control key ministries.

CNN: Diplomat: U.S. no longer supports Zimbabwe power-share deal

The election would herald the end of the shaky coalition the two leaders formed after the disputed 2008 election, when Mr Tsvangirai - the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) - boycotted a run-off after claiming he had been robbed of victory during the first round.

BBC: Zimbabwe referendum 'tentatively set for 16 March'

Leaving the press alone was one of the many things Zimbabwe's despotic leader, Robert Mugabe, promised as part of a power-sharing pact with Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which won a general election in 2008.

ECONOMIST: The media in southern Africa

It shows what happened in the months following the first round of the presidential election when Mr Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party thugs, aided by the army and police, unleashed a campaign of terror against those suspected of backing the victorious opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), forcing its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, to withdraw from the presidential run-off.

ECONOMIST: Zimbabwe

Negotiators in Zimbabwe said they were close to a power-sharing deal between President Robert Mugabe's ruling party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai, who would become prime minister.

ECONOMIST: Politics this week