World News Story

23 November 2008 10:28 BST

Tsvangirai: Zimbabwe election 'sham'

Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has rejected the country's run-off presidential election as a sham.

"Anyone who recognises the result of this election is denying the will of the Zimbabwean people and standing in the way of a transition that will deliver stability and prosperity not just to the country, but to the region," Mr Tsvangirai told reporters.

"How can you recognise this kind of sham?"

Incumbent president Robert Mugabe is the only candidate standing in the election after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out due to alleged violence against his supporters.

Mr Mugabe has repeatedly ignored international criticism as well as calls for the election to be postponed.

The BBC reports that voting has got off to a relatively slow start in today's elections.

Mr Mugabe cast his ballot earlier and told reporters he was feeling "upbeat" and "optimistic".

At a meeting of G8 foreign ministers in Tokyo today, US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice said: "There was strong sentiment in that room today that what is going on in Zimbabwe is simply unacceptable in the 21st century."

The Associated Press quotes Mr Tsvangirai as describing today's election as evidence of a "desperate dictatorship".

Zimbabwe has been locked in a political crisis since March when a presidential election failed to find a winner, with both sides claiming victory.

Yesterday, Mr Mugabe called prime minister Gordon Brown a "demon" after it was announced that he would be stripped of his knighthood.

"We continue to respect the Queen. It's the demons at Downing Street that need to be exorcised," the Zanu-PF leader told supporters at a rally.

He also said that he would consider negotiations with the opposition but only after today's election.

Elsewhere, South African president Thabo Mbeki was heckled in parliament for failing to condemn the Zimbabwean president.