By Nelson Banya
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean opposition leader MorganTsvangirai said on Thursday there could be no negotiations withPresident Robert Mugabe if he went ahead with a one-manelection on Friday.
Tsvangirai said if Mugabe declared himself president andextended his 28 years of uninterrupted rule he would be shunnedas an illegitimate leader who killed his own people.
Africa's most iconic figure, Nelson Mandela, added hisvoice to a storm of African and international condemnation ofthe violence and chaos in Zimbabwe, in a rare politicalstatement that showed the level of concern around thecontinent.
Mugabe and his officials have remained defiant, however,saying the vote is a legal obligation.
Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga told al Jazeeratelevision: "People are going to vote tomorrow. There is nogoing back." He said Tsvangirai should be out campaigninginstead of trying to set conditions for Mugabe.
Zimbabwean police said Britain and the United States werebacking plans by Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change(MDC) and some NGOs to disrupt Friday's vote with violence,including burning down voting tents.
Assistant Commissioner Faustino Mazango told a newsconference: "It is evident that the opposition MDC has plans todisrupt the election. These counter-productive criminalactivities will be met head-on and with the full force of thelaw."
He said the plot was revealed by five people arrested onWednesday.
Tsvangirai, who withdrew from Friday's run-off last Sundayand took refuge in the Dutch embassy, tried to step up thepressure by telling Mugabe that his chances of negotiating anend to Zimbabwe's catastrophic collapse would end on Friday.
"Negotiations will be over if Mr Mugabe declares himselfthe winner and considers himself the president. How can wenegotiate?" Tsvangirai told the Times.
MBEKI CHALLENGED
In a later interview with Sky News, Tsvangirai challengedSouth African President Thabo Mbeki, the designated regionalmediator in Zimbabwe, to take urgent action to end the crisis.
Mbeki, leader of Africa's biggest economic power, has beenwidely criticised for being soft on Mugabe despite a crisisthat has flooded his country with millions of refugees.
"I hope that given ... the degeneration of the crisis weare facing, he will also act in terms of it being urgent tofulfil his mandate," Tsvangirai said.
Tsvangirai's lieutenant Tendai Biti was released on bail onThursday after being held for two weeks on treason charges.Bail was set at 1 trillion Zimbabwean dollars -- about $90 (45pounds), his lawyer said.
Mugabe, president since independence from Britain, haspresided over Zimbabwe's slide from one of the region's mostprosperous nations to a basket case with inflation estimated tohave hit at least 2 million percent.
He blames the crisis on sanctions by Britain and otherWestern countries.
Mugabe is facing a concerted international campaign to pushhim into calling off the vote by threatening he will be shunnedby the world, including African allies once over-awed by hisliberation hero status.
Mandela said in a speech at a dinner for his 90th birthdayin London that there had been a "tragic failure of leadershipin our neighbouring Zimbabwe."
Tsvangirai told Mugabe that if he came to him after thevote he would tell the veteran leader: "I made these offers, Imade these overtures, I told you I would negotiate before theelections and not after -- because it's not about elections,it's about transition.
"You disregarded that, you undertook violence against mysupporters, you killed and maimed ...How can you call yourselfan elected president? You are illegitimate and I will not speakto an illegitimate president."
On Wednesday, a security committee of the Southern AfricanDevelopment Community (SADC) -- urged postponement of the vote,saying Mugabe's re-election could lack legitimacy in thecurrent violent climate.
But Zimbabwe's state media on Thursday quoted SADC pollmonitors -- the only large group in the country -- as sayingthey would stay for the vote despite Tsvangirai's withdrawal.
South Africa said a top negotiator was in Harare mediatingtalks on options including calling off the election.
The ruling African National Congress, which has beenseverely critical of Mugabe, in contrast to Mbeki, said it wasnot too late to call off the vote.
"The ANC is convinced that it is not too late for PresidentMugabe to cancel the election, the run-off, and lead thecountry in a dialogue that will be for the good of allZimbabweans," spokeswoman Jesse Duarte told BBC television.
(Additional reporting by Ralph Gowling in London, SusanCornwell in Kyoto, Marius Bosch in Johannesburg; Writing byBarry Moody; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)
(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say onthe top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/)
