Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition, says he is the clear winner of the presidential election [AFP]

Morgan Tsvangirai, whose Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won a majority in the original count, made the statement while speaking to Al Jazeera from the southern African nation of Botswana.
 
Three weeks after Zimbabweans went to the polls to elect a new parliament and president, a partial recount is under way that could change the political direction of the country.
 
Robert Mugabe, the incumbent president, has challenged the results in 22 constituencies, and if the results fall his way, his Zanu-PF party could retake control of parliament.
 
The MDC is contesting the result of one seat.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) is set to begin recounting votes cast in 23 constituencies from 8am local time (0600 GMT) on Saturday, after a legal appeal by the MDC failed.

The MDC regards the ZEC, whose leadership is appointed by the government, as a partisan body despite its nominal independent status.

The parliamentary vote recounts were ordered after Mugabe's Zanu-PF party alleged irregularities in the counting process.

"We, as a party, will not accept any recount in respect of parliamentary seats," Tendai Biti, MDC secretary-general, said.

"We have no doubt on the insistence of a recount because ballot boxes have been stuffed.

"Those ballot boxes have become pregnant and reproduced."

Presidential vote

The party has declared that there will be a run-off presidential election with Mugabe as its candidate.

During celebrations to mark Zimbabwe's 28th anniversary of independence from Britain on Friday, Mugabe did not mention the election outcome or whether he would stand in a run-off.

He instead criticised Britain, saying it had bribed voters to mark their ballots for the MDC.

"Through money as a weapon, [the British] literally buy some of our people to turn against their government, and accept to be politically manipulated in abandoning their rights," he said.

Chinese weapons

Tsvangirai has alleged that Zanu-PF is preparing for a "war" against the people, referring to a shipment of weapons aboard a Chinese ship that arrived in the port of Durban on South Africa's Indian Ocean coast, destined for Zimbabwe.

But dock workers with the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union refused to unload the weapons over concerns Mugabe's government might use them against opponents in the post-election stalemate.
  
Several hours later, Kate Pillay, the Durban high court judge, refused permission for the weapons to be transported across the country to Zimbabwe.

According to a human rights group monitoring the vessel, the ship, named An Yue Jiang, later headed for Mozambique.

Tsvangirai has already announced himself the victor over Mugabe in the presidential vote, saying that he won a majority on March 29.

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