Twenty-one of the constituencies being recounted were won by the MDC [AFP]

Officials from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) said on Wednesday that the ruling Zanu-PF and the opposition MDC had each retained one constituency in a recount of 23 areas ordered by the courts last week.
 
The recount is taking place amid allegations of government-sponsored violence against opposition supporters.
 
Controversial recount
 
Twenty-one of the constituencies being recounted after complaints of irregularities by Zanu-PF have been won by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

The MDC was initially declared to have taken 109 seats against 97 for Zanu-PF in the 210-seat parliamentary chamber, but the party of Robert Mugabe, the president, will regain its majority if it can reverse the results in seven or more of the seats under review.
 
The recount also covers votes cast in a simultaneous presidential election in which Mugabe is seeking a sixth term in office.

International pressure

World leaders are pushing for an end to the stalemate.

Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, told parliament on Wednesday that he would seek a complete arms embargo against Zimbabwe and called on the whole world to show the Zimbabwe government that the situation there was "not acceptable".

After addressing parliament, Brown met Jacob Zuma, the leader of South Africa's ruling ANC party in talks dominated by the Zimbabwe crisis.

The African National Congress leader has been one of Mugabe's most outspoken critics in Africa.

Zuma also called the situation "not acceptable" and said he and Brown agreed on the need for action and called for the election results to be quickly released.

"We call for an end to any violence and intimidation and stress the importance of respect for the sovereign people of Zimbabwe and the choice they have made at the ballot box," they said in a joint statement after their meeting.

However, Zuma would not support Brown's call for an international arms embargo on Wednesday.

Zuma, who has distanced himself from the "quiet diplomacy" of Thabo Mbeki, South Africa's president, over Zimbabwe, has called on African leaders to take action to unlock the stalemate.

Zimbabwe's neighbours, previously passive despite the collapse of the country's economy, took a harder line towards Mugabe this week, refusing to allow a Chinese ship to unload arms headed for the landlocked country.

Post-election violence
 
The opposition claims at least 10 people have been killed and hundreds injured - mostly during what they say has been a campaign of intimidation by supporters of Mugabe.
 
In Centenary, 100km northwest of Harare, at least 28 homes have been burned down, while many people report being attacked.

Church leaders on Tuesday also issued a statement claiming several people have been injured and killed in post-election violence.
 
Government officials deny opposition supporters are being targeted and say the MDC is lying.
 
Patrick Chinamasa, the minister of justice, said: "We refute completely that people are dying of politically motivated violence. And please next time they say that, ask them who are these people, where are their names."
 
The minister said claims by Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader, of a genocide happening in the country are wrong.

Zimbabwe's state-run newspaper has, meanwhile, urged regional countries to help Mugabe form a transitional government that can organise a fresh poll and write a new constitution.

The Herald, traditionally close to Zanu-PF, said in an editorial posted on its website on Wednesday that prevailing political tensions made it impossible to hold a free and fair presidential run-off.
 
"The current socio-economic environment in Zimbabwe is not conducive, and the country's political dynamics so distorted, that holding a free and fair election run-off in the immediate term is literally impossible," it said.

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