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Tsvangirai claims election victory

Zimbabwe's opposition claimed victory yesterday in a general election, even before the first results were announced, based on unofficial returns posted at polling stations.

Despite warnings from authorities against pre-empting the result, the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said it was the certain winner and had secured nearly all parliamentary seats in the two biggest cities.

The MDC said it would not accept any attempt by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to "steal" the outcome.

Mugabe's camp said it would treat any announcement by MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai that he was the rightful president as tantamount to a coup.

"We have won this election beyond any reasonable doubt. We have won this election," MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti told a news conference.

Biti said the party's assessment was based on unofficial returns posted at polling stations where counting had been completed and cast doubt on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), a supposedly independent body whose executives are appointed by Mugabe.

Asked why he was not waiting for the commission, Biti said: "We don't trust the ZEC, which is not independent."

"We made a mistake in 2002 by not claiming our victory. We made a mistake in 2005 by not claiming our victory," Biti said. "We will not accept the results of any stolen election as a party."

Tsvangirai has insisted he was the rightful winner of the last presidential election in 2002, while the party also says it was robbed of victory in the 2005 parliamentary elections.

Biti said its own research at polling stations showed that the party had virtually wiped out the ruling ZANU-PF in Harare and the southern city of Bulawayo in this year's election.

"In Bulawayo we have won all the 12 house of assembly seats and ... in Harare we have won 28 out of 29," he said.

He also claimed that, based on results collated by the party from 12 percent of the 9,000 polling stations, Tsvangirai was in the lead with around two-thirds of the vote.

Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba fired a warning to Tsvangirai, who has twice been charged with treason, against an early victory claim.

"He announces results, declares himself and the MDC winner and then what? Declare himself president of Zimbabwe? It is called a coup d'etat and we all know how coups are handled," Charamba told the state-run Sunday Mail.

The electoral commission also criticized the opposition for jumping the gun.

With this year's elections involving votes for president, parliament and councils, the first official tallies were not expected until later in the day.

No Western observers were allowed to oversee the ballot, but African observers raised concerns.

One pan-African team complained that 8,450 voters were registered on a patch of deserted land in Harare.
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