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Zimbabwe's opposition frayed - treason trial of Tsvangirai has tied hands of followers.***NCA chairman Lovemore Madhuku, a thin lawyer in a crumpled suit whose fiery calls for action contrast greatly to Tsvangirai's pleas for caution, says the protests failed because the MDC did not support them. The MDC must be willing to risk the arrest, torture, and perhaps even death of their followers through peaceful protest, he says.

"If Morgan had come out, I think it would made a difference," says Mr. Madhuku. "Now the people are losing faith, there is no doubt about it. He may lose the momentum."

But Tsvangirai and others in the MDC say the failure of the NCA to attract widespread support for their "stay-aways" demonstrate the danger of moving to fast. Any action must be planned carefully. Failed action, they say, is worse than none at all. Tsvangirai insists that plans are being made, but that he is not at liberty to discuss them. But even he acknowledges that action is difficult while, as he puts it, "the noose" is around his neck.***

Zimbabwean police charge 19 clergy*** HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Twenty church pastors marching to protest what they called state-orchestrated political violence were arrested yesterday and held for eight hours, witnesses and protest organizers said. The pastors, who were wearing clerical garb, marched to police headquarters in Harare to submit a petition protesting the violence and Zimbabwe's strict security laws, which prohibit political protests.

The representatives of the multidenominational National Pastors Conference were waiting to hand in their petition when riot police arrested them, said Brian Kagoro, an official with the reform group Crisis in Zimbabwe. They were accused of holding an illegal protest under the Public Order and Security Act, the legislation they were protesting, and taken to Harare's Central Police Station, Kagoro said. ***