HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabwe's justice minister has said the government accepts the acquittal of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on treason charges and looks forward to meeting him and his party in polls next year.
"Government will accept the judgment, we'll respect it and we now look forward to meeting the MDC and its current leader Tsvangirai at the polls in March 2005," Patrick Chinamasa said in comments broadcast by state television late Saturday.
He made no reference to a possible appeal against the acquittal of the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) who was cleared of plotting to kill President Robert Mugabe by the High Court on Friday.
The justice minister had on Friday said Tsvangirai was "wrongly acquitted" and said the government would consider taking further legal action.
Treason charges against Tsvangirai arose in 2002 after he was secretly filmed allegedly discussing the "elimination" of Mugabe with a Canadian based political consultant, who was also in the pay of the government.
The opposition leader said he had been set up and claimed his trial was political persecution.
Tsvangirai has said his party will only take part in parliamentary elections due next March if key electoral reforms are implemented.
The opposition party believes that general and presidential elections in 2000 and 2002 were rigged and won through intimidation and violence.
But as he welcomed his acquittal on Friday Tsvangirai suggested it was "a good basis for national reconciliation" in the politically divided southern African country.