Dar es Salaam - Police were deployed in the Tanzanian capital on Saturday to discourage opposition demonstrations from going ahead, as bloody protests on the semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar and Pemba left at least eleven people dead.
Police beefed up security in the streets here and prevented people from holding rallies.
The Civic United Front (CUF) had planned to stage mass demonstrations on the mainland and the archipelago to press for new elections after polls on the islands in October and November were widely viewed as undemocratic.
On Friday, police arrested about 50 suspected opposition supporters calling for demonstrations here, after Ibrahim Lipumba, the CUF leader, was taken in and charged with unlawful assembly and disturbing the peace.
Witnesses said the opposition leader and his supporters were beaten during the round-up.
The government, meanwhile, said it had unearthed plans by the CUF to "wreak havoc" across the country.
On Friday, Lipumba and 15 others pleaded not guilty to charges of unlawful assembly and destruction of property. Bail was granted.
Lipumba, a former economics professor at the University of Dar es Salaam, wore a bandage on his left arm, while several accused persons had head injuries with plasters and a few had blood stains on their clothes.
On Saturday, clashes between opposition demonstrators and police in Zanzibar and Pemba left at least 11 dead and 20 injured, witnesses said.
The presidential and legislative elections late last year brought victory to the long-ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party both on the mainland and on Zanzibar.
While polling was relatively trouble-free on the mainland, on Zanzibar it was described by the CUF and intenational election monitors as not free and fair.
Sapa-AFP