Britain says Mugabe 'trying to steal election'

Britain accused President Robert Mugabe yesterday of trying to steal Zimbabwe's election and of unleashing a campaign of violence against people who had voted against him.

In Britain's most outspoken criticism of the disputed March 29 election, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the world could be witnessing a "charade of democracy" in Zimbabwe.

He urged African leaders to do more to resolve the crisis, saying "democratic legitimacy throughout Africa is at stake".

If Mr Mugabe did not listen to them, Africans and their organisations should stop recognising his government, he said.

"The constitutional crisis in Zimbabwe continues as President Mugabe persists in his ambition to steal the election," Mr Miliband said in a written statement to Parliament.

"President Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party have unleashed a campaign of violence against those ordinary Zimbabweans, 60 per cent of them, who in spite of everything voted against him," Mr Miliband said. Zimbabwe announced a delay on Sunday in a partial recount of the votes, extending a deadlock in which the opposition says 10 of its members have been killed and hundreds arrested.

The recount could overturn the results of the parliamentary election, which showed Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF losing its majority to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) for the first time.

"No one can have any faith in this recount," Mr Miliband said.

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

Mr Tsvangirai met UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the sidelines of a UN conference in Ghana yesterday to discuss the crisis.

Some 28 opposition activists appeared in court in Harare yesterday on public order charges during an abortive general strike last week against the delay in issuing results.

Alec Muchadehama, a lawyer for the MDC, said they had been kept in jail much longer than the statutory 48 hours before appearing in court. "We brought it to the court's attention that all of them have been unlawfully detained before being charged, some from last Tuesday, others from Wednesday and others from Thursday," he said.

He said some had been assaulted by police and soldiers when they were arrested. All were remanded in custody.

Britain was working with states in the region and other countries to resolve the crisis, Mr Miliband said, but he said African states were best placed to put pressure on Mr Mugabe.

He welcomed calls from the African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) for the presidential results to be released but said it was important African leaders did more to engage directly in the crisis.

Thabo Mbeki, President of regional power South Africa, and other regional leaders have faced accusations of being too soft on Zimbabwe.