Pressure grows on Mugabe

Zimbabwe could be about to see a presidential head-to-head in the next three weeks, according to the country’s state-owned newspaper, the Herald.

The first indication of the results of Saturday’s bitter election are that neither President Robert Mugabe, or his main challenger Morgan Tsvangirai have obtained a clear majority.

With the official results slow in coming the opposition leader Mr Tsvangirai said his party would issue its own results if the commission did not.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network stated its exit polls indicated Mr Tsvangirai had won just over 49% of the vote and Mr Mugabe 42%.

International pressure is growing for 84 year-old Robert Mugabe to step aside. Washington issues a statement saying it was “clear the people of Zimbabwe had voted for change”. The EU also called on Mugabe to resign, warning there would be a “coup d’etat” if Mr Mugabe did not step down.

Fears are growing that their could be bloodshed in Zimbabwe, which has seen a complete economic collapse in the last 10 years.