Division widens over Zimbabwe vote

Commonwealth observer Abdulsalami Abubakar condemned the election

HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Commonwealth observers and Britain have stepped up their criticism of Zimbabwe's presidential election, exposing a growing divide between western nations and some African countries.

President Robert Mugabe, who has led the country for 22 years, was given another six-year term when he was declared the winner on Wednesday. (Full story)

But opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said the 78-year-old president stole the election through violence and by preventing tens of thousands of people from voting.

Mugabe said he had been given a mandate to continue a policy of taking land from white farmers and giving it to landless blacks.

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa added: "This is a runaway victory. It was won on the issue of the land."

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Some Western countries have said the election was illegitimate, while many African nations have accepted it.

The Commonwealth observers, in a preliminary report on Thursday, said: "Conditions in Zimbabwe did not adequately allow for a free expression of will by the electors."

And after reading the report, Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told parliament: "Zimbabweans have plainly been denied their fundamental rights to choose by whom they should be governed.

"The failure of the electoral process in Zimbabwe is a tragedy not just for Zimbabwe but for the people of southern Africa as a whole."

Straw said Mugabe's followers "exploited every instrument of the state to distort the electoral process."

With Zimbabwe people suffering "deprivation and hardship" from their own government, the UK would continue to offer humanitarian aid and assistance in battling HIV and AIDS, added Straw.

But he said the UK would continue to oppose "any access by Zimbabwe to international financial resources until a more representative government is in place."

The Commonwealth observers' report found "violence and intimidation created a climate of fear and suspicion," that "thousands of Zimbabwean citizens were disenfranchised" and that there was "a systematic campaign of intimidation."

The observers said they were deeply impressed by the determination of the people of Zimbabwe to exercise their democratic rights, often under difficult conditions.

Voters queued patiently and peacefully, sometimes for hours, at polling stations across the country during three days of voting.

However, the observers said the election "was marred by a high level of politically-motivated violence and intimidation" preceding the poll.

The organisation's black and white members were split over Zimbabwe at a summit earlier this month, where a task force of Nigeria, South Africa and Australia was mandated to decide whether punitive action should be taken against Mugabe.

The observers' report will be considered by Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo, South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki and Australian Prime Minister John Howard, before any decision on action by the Commonwealth.

The European Union, which imposed economic and diplomatic sanctions last month after Mugabe refused to let its monitors observe the elections, has threatened further punishment.

Meanwhile U.S. President George W. Bush said on Wednesday: "We are dealing with our friends to figure out how to deal with this flawed election."