The arrest of a top MDC leader in Zimbabwe is aimed at sapping support for the power-sharing agreement, the new prime minister has said. Morgan Tsvangirai told the Associated Press that he hoped to meet President Mugabe later to discuss the arrest on Friday of Roy Bennett. He blamed the arrest on factions that wanted to destroy power-sharing. Police detained Mr Bennett hours before the new government in which he was to serve was sworn in. He faces treason accusations, but his lawyers say he has not been formally charged. He is the nominee to be deputy agriculture minister. The MDC says it will continue its vigil outside the prison in the eastern city of Mutare where he is being held. The Associated Press quoted Mr Tsvangirai as saying he received assurances from the governments of South Africa and Zimbabwe that Mr Bennett was safe. He added: "We have to budget for some residual resistance from those who see this deal (the power-sharing agreement) as a threat to their interest." A white farmer who lost his property under Mr Mugabe's land reform programme, Mr Bennett was in prison from October 2004 to June 2005. The sentence was imposed by other MPs after he pushed a minister during an argument in parliament over land reform. He has only recently returned to Zimbabwe after more than two years in South Africa, where he fled after police sought his arrest in connection with an alleged plot to kill Mr Mugabe. The power-sharing deal was agreed after months of talks following disputed elections. The two parties have been bitter opponents for many years. Correspondents say Friday's hitches show how difficult it will be for the coalition - agreed after strong international pressure and amid the collapse of the country's economy - to work. Zimbabwe has the highest inflation rate in the world, unemployment of more than 90%, needs food aid for more than half its population, and is suffering from a cholera epidemic that has killed more than 3.500 people, and an AIDS epidemic. Source: BBC