Mugabe sworn in before results
2008-06-29 13:31
Special Report
Zimbabwe has released three Botswana game rangers who strayed across its borders while tracking wild animals, causing a diplomatic stand-off between the two countries, a report says.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe says he doesn't expect the US sanctions on his country to be lifted soon.
Harare - President Robert Mugabe was preparing to be sworn in for a new term on Sunday, extending his nearly three decades in power after a discredited election overshadowed by violence against the opposition.
Ministry of Information officials alerted reporters to be at the presidential residence for the 15:00) inauguration ceremony before results from Friday's presidential run-off had even been announced. Attempts to reach government spokespeople for comment were not immediately successful.
African and other world leaders had condemned the election, in which Mugabe was the only candidate. It followed a campaign that saw opposition supporters targeted by brutal state-sponsored violence, human rights groups said.
Violence
Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition candidate, pulled out of the run-off because of the attacks, which left more than 80 dead and forced 200 00 to flee their homes.
Marwick Khumalo, a member of parliament from Swaziland who led a team of election observers from across the continent under the auspices of the AU-sponsored Pan-African Parliament, said on Sunday: "The current atmosphere prevailing in the country did not give rise to the conduct of free, fair and credible elections."
Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Sunday that Mugabe supporters beat people who couldn't prove they voted.
State radio on Sunday quoted Mugabe, 84, who has been Zimbabwe's president since independence from Britain in 1980, as saying he was confident of winning and thanking voters for their support.
Residents living near State House, Mugabe's official home, reported vehicles from an events staging company driving into the compound. A single air force jet zoomed across the sky.
Open to talks
Tsvangirai won the most votes in the first round of presidential voting in March, but not enough for an outright victory. African mediators have in recent days been pushing for Mugabe and Tsvangirai to negotiate a power sharing agreement.
Mugabe said on the eve of the vote he was open to talks, but pressed ahead with the election, apparently hoping a victory would give him leverage at the negotiating table. But it now appears he will be able to draw little legitimacy from the run-off.
Khumalo, the observer, called for conditions to be put in place for fresh elections to be held "as soon as possible" and urged African and regional leaders to "engage the broader political leadership in Zimbabwe into a negotiated transitional settlement."
Contrary to the state-run newspaper's report of a "massive turnout" in the runoff, Khumalo's observers reported a low turnout and said the few Zimbabweans who went to the polls did so only out of fear.
With the election discredited and attention turning to the possibility of negotiations, the role of Mugabe in any future government could be a sticking point.
- AP