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MDC urges intervention in 'war' | |
(about 2 hours later) | |
African leaders and the UN must act to ensure democracy triumphs in Zimbabwe, says a key opposition figure. | |
MDC secretary general Tendai Biti said Zimbabwe was now "in a war situation" following disputed polls on 29 March. | |
He said 10 people had been killed, hundreds injured and thousands displaced in post-election violence. | |
After a request from the ruling party, electoral officials are conducting a partial recount of the parliamentary vote, won by the MDC. | |
Votes are being recounted in 23 constituencies, a process election officials say could take more than three days to complete. | |
Three weeks after polls were held, the presidential result is still unknown. | Three weeks after polls were held, the presidential result is still unknown. |
The opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai - who has fled the country - insists he won the presidential vote outright, and has demanded that the results be released. | |
'Frustration' | |
Speaking at a news conference in Johannesburg, neighbouring South Africa, Mr Biti urged African leaders and the United Nations to prevent a slide towards violence in Zimbabwe. | |
If democracy fails in Zimbabwe, what options are you leaving to the people of Zimbabwe? Tendai BitiMDC general secretary | |
He said the MDC was trying to prevent Zimbabweans being "seduced" into violence, but pointed out that amid a lack of jobs, food and medicines they were getting increasingly frustrated. | |
In addition to the claims of post-election violence, the opposition also says dozens of its supporters have been arrested by the security forces. | |
"If democracy fails in Zimbabwe, what options are you leaving to the people of Zimbabwe?" he asked. | |
Mr Biti called the recount "mendacious and illegal", and said there was evidence of tampering with the ballot boxes. | |
He said his party would not participate in a run-off - though the party has previously said it would participate if certain conditions were met. | |
Evidence of violence | |
The government has not commented on these latest accusations, but has so far denounced all of the opposition's claims as lies. | |
HAVE YOUR SAYI predict that the situation will end up like Kenya. Mugabe will be encouraged by the African Union to form a national unity governmentFrank Hartry, South AfricaSend us your comments | HAVE YOUR SAYI predict that the situation will end up like Kenya. Mugabe will be encouraged by the African Union to form a national unity governmentFrank Hartry, South AfricaSend us your comments |
The BBC's Will Ross in South Africa - the BBC is barred from Zimbabwe - says it is difficult to verify the numbers of people the MDC claims have been killed, wounded or displaced in recent political violence. | |
But he says there is evidence that there has been violence, particularly in rural areas - something the MDC accuses the government of orchestrating in a bid to intimidate opposition voters in the lead-up to a possible run-off. | |
The New York-based Human Rights Watch on Saturday accused Zanu-PF of "using a network of informal detention centres to beat, torture, and intimidate opposition activists and ordinary Zimbabweans". | |
South African dock workers last week refused to unload a Chinese ship carrying arms destined for Zimbabwe, and a South African court barred its cargo from being transported overland to the border. | |
UN effort | |
On Sunday the 53-member African Union urged Zimbabwe to release the election results "without any further delay", and called for restraint from all parties. | |
Earlier, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he would discuss "how to get developments there back to normal" with a number of African leaders on the sidelines of a UN summit in Ghana. | |
Kofi Annan, his predecessor, has also urged African leaders to do more to address the crisis. | |
The alarm bells are getting louder but so far they show little sign of making any difference in Zimbabwe, our correspondent says. | |
Few African heads of state are attending the UN summit in Ghana and it will not be a priority at a conference of the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC), currently taking place in Mauritius. |