Mugabe wins Zimbabwe poll

HARARE, Zimbabwe (CNN) -- President Robert Mugabe has officially been declared winner in the Zimbabwe elections.

The 78-year-old was re-elected with 1.685 million of the ballot -- or about 57 percent of the votes cast -- while his nearest challenger Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) polled 1.258 million, officials say.

Tsvangirai rejected the poll as rigged and told CNN that "there will be legal options" against what he called a "blatant stealing of the election." The U.S. called the election "fatally flawed." (Full story)

Election monitors from Nigeria and South Africa said the vote was legitimate, but the Southern African Development Forum Parliament has joined Western nations in criticising the election.

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State television said the turnout was 55.4 percent -- 3.1 million voters.

Supporters of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party have celebrated in the streets of the capital, Harare. One group carried a mock coffin bearing the words "Tsvangirai. Rest in peace."

Security forces are on full alert, with riot police stationed in MDC strongholds amid fears of street protests against the result.

Tsvangirai told CNN: "The people have been robbed of their right to elect a leadership. (The result) is illegitimate.

"This is the biggest electoral fraud I have ever witnessed. This election does not reflect the true will of the people of Zimbabwe."

He added that the military deployments across Zimbabwe were an attempt to silence opposition voices against the election result.

On Tuesday international observers said the election had not been free or fair, a claim disputed by the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF).

Kare Vollan, head of the 25-member Norwegian Observer mission, said: "The presidential elections have failed to meet key criteria."

He said the mission, the largest European delegation, found flaws with every step of the electoral process from voter registration and campaigning to the actual vote.

Amnesty International said 1,400 opposition polling agents and independent election observers had been detained. Others had been arrested for allegedly trying to vote a second time.

"We are deeply concerned for the safety of those arrested in the light of the well-established pattern of 'disappearances,' -- cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by Zimbabwean security forces," the international human rights group said in a statement demanding their release.

State television ZBC said Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi had called on Zimbabweans to accept the result.

ZBC quoted Sekeramayi as saying the "government was aware of certain groups ready to put the country into chaos."

The private Daily News said heavily armed soldiers and police were deployed in several cities and towns on Tuesday.

A coalition of church and civic groups known as the Crisis in Zimbabwe Committee said it was considering calling for a general strike to channel the inevitable voter anger over a Mugabe victory into a peaceful protest.

CNN's correspondent Charlayne Hunter-Gault said: "The whole country is on a knife-edge -- there is a lot of fear here. Security forces are on full alert and trucks of police with riot gear have spread out through major towns.

"White farmers accused of transporting MDC supporters to voting stations have been threatened and told to leave their farms."

The ballot counting began Tuesday after three days of voting.