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Widespread intimidation in Zimbabwe vote

US to call for UN action against Mugabe as world body sees no condition for fair polls

AP, Harare/Seoul
Roaming bands of government supporters heckled, harassed or threatened people into voting in a runoff election Friday in which President Robert Mugabe was the only candidate, ensuring he will remain in power despite international condemnation of die balloting as a sham.
Residents said they were forced to vote by threats of violence or arson from the Mugabe supporters, who searched for anyone without an ink-stained finger the telltale sign that they had cast a ballot.
The Herald, Zimbabwe's state-run newspaper, reported Saturday that there was "massive voter turn out." A newspaper commentary said the turnout was "a slap in the face for detractors who claimed this was a 'Mugabe election' that did not have the blessing of the generality of Zimbabweans."
The Herald’s report contradicts reporters and independent observers in Harare who saw low turnout despite the reports of intimidation. As polls closed at 7 p.m , officials at one Harare station said they hadn't seen a voter for several hours.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who withdrew from the runoff after an onslaught of state-sponsored violence against his
Democratic Movement for Change, said the results would "reflect only the fear of die people."
"What is happening today is not an election. It is an exercise in mass intimidation," he said at a news conference.
The UN Security Council unanimously "agreed that the conditions for free and fair elections did not exist and it was a matter of deep regret that elections went ahead," said US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who is current council president.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the vote a "sham," and said the United States was drafting a UN resolution calling for tough
action against Zimbabwe's government to prevent it from further abusing the country's population.
“It is time for the international community to act," Rice told reporters on her way to Seoul, South Korea. "It is hard to imagine that anybody could fail to act given what we’re all watching on the ground in Zimbabwe."
Rice declined to specify what will be in the proposed resolution, which could be submitted as early as Monday, but said there “has to be a deterrent effect from the international community at this point to (halt) further intimidation, further violence against the population."