Zimbabwe's ruling party today backed President Robert Mugabe to fight an expected runoff vote against opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, ending uncertainty over whether he would try to extend his long grip on power.
A senior party official said the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission would schedule such a vote, suggesting it would be changed from the statutory three weeks after election results.
Civil society organisations charged today that Mr Mugabe was trying to delay the re-run for three months to give him time to regroup and ensure victory.
ZANU-PF agreed on its strategy after a five-hour meeting to discuss the biggest crisis ofMugabe's 28-year-old rule.
ZANU-PF lost control of parliament for the first time in elections last Saturday but no results have so far emerged from the presidential vote, prompting opposition suspicions that Mugabe is trying to engineer a way out of the crisis.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says Mr Tsvangirai won an absolute majority in the presidential vote and should be declared president, ending Mr Mugabe's long rule since independence in 1980.
ZANU-PF and independent projections show Mr Tsvangirai winning the presidential vote but falling short of the absolute majority needed to avoid a runoff.
Announcing the ZANU-PF decision, party administration secretary Didymus Mutasa said parliamentary votes would be recounted in disputed areas.
Earlier, liberation war veterans - a potent force backing Mr Mugabe - attacked the opposition for claiming victory. "These are all provocations against us freedom fighters," veterans' leader Jabulani Sibanda told a press conference.
He said the veterans would repel any attempt by white farmers to reclaim properties seized by Mugabe. "It now looks like these elections were a way to open for the re-invasion of this country (by the British)," he said.
There is increasing impatience in Zimbabwe at a six-day wait for the results of the presidential election.
The MDC said it would ask the High Court to order the immediate release of the results.
Two foreign journalists, including a New York Timescorrespondent, have been charged with violating the country's media laws, a police spokesman said tonight.
"They are being charged with working without accreditation, they should appear in court tomorrow (Saturday)," said the spokesman, Wayne Bvudzijena.
The New York Timessaid its reporter, Barry Bearak, who is based in neighbouring South Africa, was taken into custody from his hotel in the capital, Harare, where he was covering the country's election.
The other journalist is British. Both were arrested last night.
Mr Mugabe faces deep discontent as Zimbabwe suffers the world's highest inflation rate of more than 100,000 percent, a virtually worthless currency and severe food and fuel shortages.
The statement by veterans of a war against white rule in the 1970s appeared to refer to a report in the state-owned Herald newspaper saying there were reports of white farmers threatening to grab back their land.
Critics say the handing of the farms to inexperienced farmers and Mugabe cronies is a key reason for Zimbabwe's economic collapse.
Amid rumours that security forces planned to crackdown on the opposition, Tsvangirai spokesman George Sibotshiwe denied the MDC leader had gone into hiding.
"He had a meeting with diplomats today and he is in his office. He has no reason to hide."
The European Union today also urged the Zimbabwean authorities to release as soon as possible the delayed results.
"The election commission has to produce the results as quickly as possible. This is the sixth day since the election. What are they waiting for?" said Cristina Gallach, a spokeswoman for European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana.