KEY POINTS:
Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won a court ruling allowing its main pre-election rally in the capital, Harare, to go ahead today, amid fears that violence could boil over ahead of Friday's presidential run-off vote.
The MDC has had to go to court almost every weekend during the second-round campaign to overturn police bans on its rallies.
However, there is no guarantee that the party's leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, will be able to address his followers today in what is an MDC stronghold.
Robert Mugabe's challenger has repeatedly been detained at roadblocks as he has tried to tour the country.
The state broadcasting corporation has also refused to accept MDC advertisements because they "contain inappropriate language and information" - such as the claim that Mr Tsvangirai won the election the first time around, when he finished six points ahead of Mr Mugabe.
In the past week the intimidation campaign by the President's Zanu-PF party, which has been running for weeks in rural areas, has hit the capital.
According to residents and human rights groups, a ring of torture camps has been set up on the outskirts of Harare, gangs of youths in party scarves have roamed the densely populated township areas and even the more prosperous suburbs, and people have been forced to attend political meetings at which they are threatened and warned to vote for Zanu-PF.
Fearing that more opposition supporters will be killed, tortured or driven out of their homes in the final days of the campaign, the MDC is deciding this weekend whether to pull out of the election.
It is due to announce its decision tomorrow, but one supporter said: "It seems pointless to go on.
Mugabe will not stand down, and people are more worried about what will happen after Friday than anything else."
- INDEPENDENT
