ZIMBABWE:REJECTION OF tomorrow's presidential run-off in Zimbabwe was growing yesterday, with the US, France and other nations saying they will not recognise the result. At an emergency summit in Swaziland, southern African countries called for a postponement of the poll, saying the outcome will not be credible because of political violence.
The crisis prompted former South African president Nelson Mandela to break his silence over the situation and criticise the country's leaders. In a speech at a dinner in London yesterday, he said there was a "tragic failure of leadership" in Zimbabwe.
Divisions in the region were laid bare when South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, refused to attend the Swaziland summit.
The US assistant secretary of state for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, said Washington would not recognise the outcome of Friday's ballot. "People were being beaten and losing their lives just to exercise their right to vote so we cannot, under these conditions, recognise the outcome if, in fact, this run-off goes forward."
France yesterday took a similar position, while British prime minister Gordon Brown told the House of Commons that Britain will stand alongside African leaders who do not accept the legitimacy of the regime and the "criminal cabal" surrounding Robert Mugabe.
"We want to see a peaceful transition as soon as possible. If we look back at the elections that did take place, it was clear Mugabe had lost," the prime minister said.
Mr Brown said the government was preparing intensified financial and travel restrictions against named members of the Zimbabwe administration.
But Mr Mugabe remained defiant, saying the election would go ahead.
The British monarch yesterday revoked Robert Mugabe's knighthood "as a mark of revulsion" at the political intimidation and human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. The decision was announced by the UK foreign office, which said it had been taken on advice from the foreign secretary, David Miliband.
The leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Morgan Tsvangirai, who pulled out of the ballot this week owing to the systematic violence against his supporters, briefly left his refuge at the Dutch embassy in Harare to call for African leaders to oversee a transitional administration in Zimbabwe until genuine democracy can be established.
He called on the continent's leaders, meeting at an African Union summit in Egypt next week, to intervene in place of "talks and talks about talks that have been largely fruitless for several years".
"The time for action is now. The people and the country can wait no longer. We need to show leadership. Both parties must realise the country is burning and the only way is to find a way out of it."
But Mr Tsvangirai declined to discuss details of such a government, saying they should be sorted out through negotiations.
"The election is not a solution," he said. "What is a solution is some sort of transitional process to address the critical issues facing the country. We are making proposals Mugabe has to accept."
Mr Tsvangirai's remark about fruitless talks was a reference to the regional mediation led by Mr Mbeki, who the MDC has criticised as partisan toward Mr Mugabe.
He warned that the MDC would not have dealings with the government that emerges from the election, although that does not rule out bilateral talks with the ruling party, the most likely route for negotiations. Mr Tsvangirai also said there can be no negotiations until a series of conditions are met.
These include an end to the state-orchestrated violence that has swept the country, the lifting of the bar on international organisations delivering food and other aid, the swearing in of the new parliament (in which the MDC won a majority) and the release of political prisoners, including the MDC's secretary general, Tendai Biti.
The Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference issued a statement saying: "We warn that the atrocities and barbarism of Zanu-PF are being documented. Mr Mugabe's actions and those of his generals, their wives, his thugs, supporters and the so-called 'war veterans' are offensive in the eyes of God. Judgment awaits."
Last week Mr Mugabe said only God could remove him from power: "Only God who appointed me will remove me - not the MDC, not the British."
The crisis took another toll on the Zimbabwe dollar as the black market rate crashed from about 20 billion Zimbabwe dollars to the pound a week ago to about 150 billion Zimbabwe dollars to the pound yesterday, as people scrambled to buy hard currency ahead of the election. - ( Guardian service)