Zimbabwe opposition seeks peacekeepers for run-off

By MacDonald Dzirutwe

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's main opposition group said on Sunday it had stepped up efforts to secure regional peacekeepers for a run-off presidential election against Robert Mugabe after weeks of violence that intimidated voters.

Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai held talks late on Saturday with Angola's President Jose Eduardo dos Santos to encourage regional group SADC to send the peacekeepers, MDC spokesman George Sibotshiwe told Reuters.

"He received a warm reception, and ... they discussed the way forward," Sibotshiwe said, but declined to give details.

Tsvangirai said on Saturday he would return home within two days to deal Mugabe a "final knock-out" after almost three decades in power. He said he wanted SADC peacekeepers to instil public confidence in the ballot and bring an end to the crisis that followed Zimbabwe's disputed March 29 poll.

Santos heads SADC's security committee.

Angola's Angop news agency said Tsvangirai had told reporters that "should he win the election ... the outgoing president would be granted an honourable exit as ... Robert Mugabe was the father of the nation".

A former guerrilla leader, Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980. The West and rights groups accuse him of human rights violations and wrecking the economy, but he is viewed as an independence hero by many in Africa.

After weeks of equivocation, Tsvangirai said he would contest the run-off even though he believes he won outright in the first round and accuses the ruling ZANU-PF of vote-rigging. Official results show Tsvangirai won more votes than Mugabe, but not enough to avoid a run-off.