President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai prepared on Friday to lock horns at a weekend summit of southern African leaders aimed at sorting out Zimbabwe's election mess.

Thirteen days on from the country's presidential election on 29 March there has still been no announcement on the outcome, and while Mugabe's ruling party says there must be a run-off, the opposition says its man won outright.

A legal bid by the opposition to force the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to declare the result is still under consideration by a judge and no decision on the matter is expected till Monday at the earliest.

The ZEC said that its hands are tied over the release of the presidential election results because the matter is in court, state media said on Friday.

"The commission wishes to advise the public that the question of the results of the presidential election is now the subject of legal proceedings in the High Court," it said in a statement cited by the Herald newspaper.

"Pending determination by that court, and in line with established rules of court norms and procedures, the commission is unable to comment on this subject," the ZEC said.

Zanu-PF contesting results

Not only is the ruling party contesting enough seats in the simultaneous parliamentary elections to overturn a slim opposition majority, it has also demanded a total recount of the presidential vote.

A clamour of appeals for outside help from Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) finally bore fruit on Wednesday when a regional bloc announced an extraordinary summit to consider the crisis.

The mouthwatering prospect of bitter enemies Tsvangirai and Mugabe facing off over the conference table in Lusaka became a real prospect on Thursday when both men's parties confirmed their intentions to attend.

"Morgan has been formally invited to the Sadc meeting and he will definitely be there," Tsvangirai's number two Tendai Biti told AFP.

Mugabe's deputy information minister Bright Matonga said it was only to be expected that the 84-year-old president would attend the summit of the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (Sadc).

"Sadc has obviously come under a lot of international pressure over the Zimbabwe elections and needs to be briefed about what is happening here," Matonga told AFP.

Mbeki to meet Tsvangirai

South African President Thabo Mbeki, the regional heavyweight, also confirmed his attendance in Lusaka and there was speculation he could meet Tsvangirai beforehand on Friday when he visits Mozambique.

Tsvangirai was in Botswana on Thursday as part of a diplomatic offensive ahead of the summit and the MDC said he was due to go on to Mozambique and Zambia.

"As soon as we have a formal request we will meet with him at his earliest convenience, as the president would with any other Zimbabwean leader," Mbeki spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga had said earlier on Thursday.

Southern African leaders have been heavily criticised over their traditional reluctance to criticise Mugabe, who has presided over his country's economic demise during his 28-year rule, which began with independence in April 1980.

Mugabe has often bridled at any kind of outside intervention, blaming the country's economic woes on a limited package of Western sanctions imposed after he allegedly rigged his 2002 re-election.

The former British colony now has a six-figure inflation rate and unemployment is beyond 80 percent, while average life expectancy stands at 37 years.

AFP