Zimbabwe's main opposition leader prepares to fight Mugabe in a runoff. Nkepile Mabuse reports....CNN News Zimbabwe Mugabe Tsvangirai election second presidential ZANU-PF MDC

Page last updated at 23:44 GMT, Friday, 18 April 2008 00:44 UK
Mugabe attacks opposition and UK
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has denounced the opposition and former colonial power Britain in his first speech since the disputed elections.
"Down with thieves who want to steal our country," he told crowds marking 28 years of independence.
The outcome of the presidential poll is unclear but the high court has rejected an opposition bid to stop a recount. Meanwhile, a Chinese ship carrying arms to Zimbabwe is reported to have left South Africa after failing to unload. Dock workers had refused to remove the arms aboard the An Yue Jiang, which had been forced to anchor off the port of Durban for four days. The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union said it did "not agree with the position of the government not to intervene". Reports say the An Yue Jiang is carrying 3m rounds of ammunition, 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades and 2,500 mortar rounds. On Thursday, Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said South African President Thabo Mbeki needed to be "relieved of his duties" as a mediator in the crisis caused by the presidential poll, for which results have not been released. This is the saddest independence day since our liberation from colonial rule Morgan Tsvangirai
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He also told the BBC that his party had come close to an agreement with the ruling Zanu-PF to remove Mr Mugabe from power. Mr Tsvangirai is adamant he won the presidential election outright. But the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission says it cannot release the results until it investigates anomalies.
On Friday, the high court rejected an application by the MDC to stop a partial recount taking place this weekend. "I find no merit in the application," said Justice Antonia . "Accordingly, the application is dismissed with costs." The ruling paves the way for all presidential, parliamentary, senate and council votes cast in 23 out of 210 constituencies to be recounted.A change in the parliamentary result by nine seats could see the Zanu-PF party regain its lost majority in the assembly.In the presidential poll, government ministers suggest that a run-off may be needed, and the MDC says its activists in rural areas are being attacked ahead of that possible poll.

Morgan Tsvangirai is the head of Zimbabwe's opposition party and over the last decade has made unsuccessful attempts to unseat the country's longtime president Robert Mugabe. Now in 2008, the 55-year old Tsvangirai is caught in an election stalemate. His party won control of parliament from the ruling party on March 29th but the presidential election results have not been announced. VOA's Chris Simkins has a profile of the opposition leader who has struggled for change in Zimbabwe