Zimbabwean authorities confiscated opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's passport on Thursday, preventing him from leaving the country to attend a regional summit in South Africa, an MDC official said.
Tsvangirai said he had been invited to attend the weekend Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit, to be hosted by South African President Thabo Mbeki, who is mediating power-sharing talks between Zimbabwe's opposition and President Robert Mugabe.
The talks stalled this week after Mugabe and Tsvangirai failed to agree on top leadership posts, a sensitive issue for the long-time political rivals.
"We can't travel without passports. There's no point. In any case the plane has left and Tsvangirai has already gone back. He has no patience for this," Movement for Democratic Change Secretary-General Tendai Biti told Reuters. Reuters