Britain strips Mugabe of knighthood

Britain's Queen Elizabeth has stripped Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe of an honorary knighthood awarded in 1994, the foreign ministry said yesterday.

"This action has been taken as a mark of revulsion at the abuse of human rights and abject disregard for the democratic process in Zimbabwe over which President Mugabe has presided," a foreign ministry spokesman said.

Meanwhile Zimbabwe's neighbours yesterday urged the postponement of tomorrow's presidential election, saying the re-election of President Robert Mugabe could lack legitimacy in the current violent climate.

The call by a security troika of southern African nations put the heaviest pressure yet on Mr Mugabe, who has so far defied a storm of international condemnation of bloody violence following the first round of elections on March 29.

But Zimbabwe's Electoral Commission (ZEC) ruled that last Sunday's withdrawal from the election by opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had no legal force and the poll would go ahead.

Mr Tsvangirai, who pulled out of the contest because of violence which has killed almost 90 of his followers, said the vote was a sham and called for the African Union, backed by the United Nations, to lead a transition in Zimbabwe.