( L - R ) Tsvangirai , Mugabe

HARARE (AP):

President Robert Mugabe's ruling party demanded a vote recount - and a further delay in the release of results from Zimbabwe's presidential election, the state Sunday Mail newspaper reported, prompting outrage from the opposition party.

The Movement for Democratic Change - which claims its leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the March 29 presidential ballot outright - said it would not accept a recount, did not want a run-off, and pressed ahead with legal attempts to force the publication of the results.

"How do you have a vote recount for a result that has not been announced? That is ridiculous," said opposition spokesman Nelson Chamisa.

He accused the ruling ZANU-PF party of vote fraud, saying that police have told opposition leaders that the ruling party has been tampering with ballots since early last week.

"These claims are totally unfounded and they are only meant to justify ZANU-PF's rigging," he said.

The ruling party cited "errors and miscalculations in the compilation of the poll result" and asked the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to defer announcement of the presidential election results because of the "anomalies", the Sunday Mail reported.

Results unannounced

The report came a day after Tsvangirai called on Mugabe to step down and accused the 84-year-old long-time ruler of plotting a campaign of violence to bolster his chances of winning an expected run-off.

Eight days after the election, the commission has yet to announce the results. Unofficial tallies by independent monitors show Tsvangirai won more votes than Mugabe - but fewer than the 50 per cent plus one vote required to avoid a run-off.

The high court heard testimony yesterday afternoon from opposition party lawyers who lodged an urgent petition demanding publication of the election results. Reporters were not admitted to the court hearing.