Zimbabwe sees fresh vote delay as violence rises

Zimbabwe announced a delay in the partial recount of its disputed March 29 election on Sunday, extending a political deadlock in which the opposition says 10 of its members have been killed and hundreds arrested.

The delay increased opposition concern about possible vote-rigging by veteran President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party. The recount could overturn the results of the parliamentary election, which showed ZANU-PF losing its majority to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) for the first time.

Results of the parallel presidential election have not been released, but MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai says he has won.

"I can confirm that 10 of our members have died, four of them in the last few days, due to political violence perpetrated by ruling party supporters in the aftermath of the elections," MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said.

Amid mounting regional concern about instability and bloodshed, the 53-member African Union urged Zimbabwe to release the election results immediately, and called for restraint from all parties.

African leaders have come under international pressure to take strong action to help resolve the crisis in Zimbabwe, a once prosperous country whose economy is in ruins, beset with 165,000 percent inflation and mass unemployment.

"The African Union wishes to express its concern over the delay observed in the announcement of Zimbabwe's election results, which creates an atmosphere of tension," the AU said.

"The African Union therefore urges competent authorities of the Republic of Zimbabwe to announce the results without any further delay, in transparency, thus contributing, inter alia, to reducing the prevailing tension."

Overall African reaction has been muted so far, despite calls from the United States and former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to take tougher action.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he would discuss Zimbabwe with African leaders at a U.N. trade and development conference in Ghana which starts on Sunday.

VIOLENCE, ARRESTS

In Harare, police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena confirmed one death and said police were investigating.

MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti told a news conference in Johannesburg that 400 MDC activists had been arrested since the elections, 500 had been taken to hospital with injuries, and 3,000 families had been forced from their homes.

"As we sit here, hundreds of huts and houses are being burned," he said, adding people were going hungry. "The situation is desperate."

A teachers union said on Sunday its members were being intimidated and threatened in many rural areas for allegedly supporting the opposition and were afraid to go back to school.

Biti said Tsvangirai would fly to Ghana on Sunday as part of efforts to garner support. "The leaders in Africa must act," he said.

The crisis looked set to fester after Utoile Silaigwana, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission's deputy chief election officer, said the recount in 23 of 210 constituencies, which began on Saturday, would take longer than expected.

"There were some delays yesterday and I am not sure the results will be available after three days as initially indicated. It might be more than that," he said.

The MDC says it won the elections fair and square, calls the recount illegal and says it will reject the results. The opposition also says it has evidence of ballot tampering.

It has accused Mugabe, a former guerrilla commander who is 84, of unleashing loyal militias to help him rig a probable runoff and allowing veterans of the independence war to invade some farms, echoing a wave of land invasions that began in 2000.