By MacDonald Dzirutwe
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's neighbours on Wednesday urgedthe postponement of Friday's presidential election, saying there-election of President Robert Mugabe could lack legitimacy inthe current violent climate.
The call by a security troika of southern African nationsput the heaviest pressure yet on Mugabe, who has so far defieda storm of international condemnation of bloody violencefollowing the first round of elections on March 29.
Regional power South Africa added to the pressure, saying atop negotiator was in Harare mediating talks on optionsincluding postponement of the vote.
But Zimbabwe's Electoral Commission (ZEC) ruled that lastSunday's withdrawal from the election by opposition leaderMorgan Tsvangirai had no legal force and the poll would goahead.
U.S. President George W. Bush said the polls had nocredibility.
Friday's presidential elections "appear to be a sham," Bushsaid at the White House after meeting members of the U.N.Security Council. "The Mugabe government is intimidating peopleon the ground in Zimbabwe," he said.
Tsvangirai, who pulled out of the contest because ofviolence which has killed almost 90 of his followers, calledfor the African Union, backed by the United Nations, to lead atransition in Zimbabwe.
A security troika of the Southern African DevelopmentCommunity (SADC) said after meeting near the Swazi capitalMbabane: "It is the considered opinion of the organ summit thatholding the election under the current circumstances mayundermine the credibility and legitimacy of its outcome."
It said the group had been briefed by South AfricanPresident Thabo Mbeki, the designated SADC mediator inZimbabwe, on Tuesday.
Mbeki has previously been widely criticised for taking anineffective soft line with Mugabe. Kenyan Prime Minister RailaOdinga on Wednesday called for a new mediator.
"TRAGIC FAILURE"
The crisis prompted former South African President NelsonMandela to break his silence over the situation in Zimbabwe andcriticise the country's leaders.
In a speech at a dinner in London, he said there was a"tragic failure of leadership" in Zimbabwe.
The troika, comprising Tanzania -- the African Unionchairman -- Swaziland and Angola, urged talks betweengovernment and opposition before a new date was set for thepresidential run-off.
Tsvangirai spoke at a news conference at his home afterleaving the Dutch embassy where he took refuge after announcingthe pull-out last Sunday. But he returned to the embassy later.
He told reporters: "I am asking the AU and SADC to lead anexpanded initiative supported by the U.N. to manage what I willcall a transitional process."
Bush called on the African Union at its upcoming meeting tohighlight "the illegitimacy of the elections" in Zimbabwe.
The opposition leader said the election would not beaccepted either by Zimbabweans or the world.
Pressure has mounted both inside and outside Africa to calloff the vote since Tsvangirai withdrew. Mugabe, 84, is nowcertain to be elected to extend his 28-year rule.
South African spokesman Themba Maseko told Reuters: "Thefacilitation talks between the various parties in Zimbabwe arelooking at all aspects that will bring a possible settlement... all options are being considered which would, I suspect,include the possibility of a postponement."
He said senior negotiator Sydney Mufamadi was in Hararetalking both to the government and opposition.
Human rights organisations, Western powers and Tsvangirai'sMovement for Democratic Change accused Mugabe of launching acampaign of murder and intimidation after he and his ZANU-PFparty lost the first round of elections.
Tsvangirai fell short of the absolute majority required foroutright victory in that vote.
Mugabe, in power since 1980, has presided over a slide intoeconomic chaos.
In the first concrete step to punish Mugabe for theviolence, Britain said it was preparing tougher sanctionsagainst specific members of Zimbabwe's government.
Tsvangirai said that while he was prepared to negotiatewith Mugabe's ZANU-PF before Friday, his MDC would "not haveanything to do" with a government that emerged from the vote.
(Additional reporting by Paul Simao in Mbabane, CrisChinaka in Harare, Marius Bosch, Gordon Bell, Michael Georgyand Muchena Zigomo in Johannesburg, Duncan Miriri in Nairobi,Katherine Baldwin and David Clarke in London and TabassumZakaria in Washington; Writing by Barry Moody)
(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say onthe top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/)
