ZIMBABWE: Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has vowed to fight on and appealed to the international community to help overturn Robert Mugabe's regime.

Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, said democratic change is "within sight", despite him suffering an "orgy of heavy beatings" at the hands of police.

Tsvangirai's words come as Mugabe told Western critics to "go hang" in response to accusations of mistreatment of opposition leaders.

Mugabe blamed the opposition party for triggering violence that led to the arrest and alleged beatings of senior party members.

Tsvangirai, who is recovering in hospital, wrote: "Yes, they brutalised my flesh. But they will never break my spirit. I will soldier on until Zimbabwe is free.

"Far from killing my spirit, the scars they brutally inflicted on me have re-energised me.

"Of course we need the support of the world, and please do support us in achieving democratic change in Zimbabwe."

Tsvangirai said he was assaulted after Mugabe "ruthlessly crushed" a prayer meeting.

He described how he was beaten and verbally abused by officers after driving to a police station where senior members were being held.

He wrote: "Upon my arrival at Machipisa Police Station, all hell broke loose. I was pulled out of my car by heavily built men in police gear and they began smashing my head against the wall.

"Inside the station, the assaults, punctuated with obscene verbal attacks on my person, my family, my party the MDC, and my supporters continued for a long time.

"I felt like my head had been smashed open. I passed out three times, I was later told by eyewitnesses."