Zimbabwe police accuse opposition

This woman says her hut was burnt by ruling party supporters

Zimbabwe's police chief has accused the opposition of trying to rig elections and stirring political violence.

Augustine Chihuri said more than 100 cases of fraud had been found following last month's elections, the results of which have not yet been published.

Meanwhile, government sources said that opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had defeated President Robert Mugabe, but failed to secure an outright victory.

The report comes as electoral officials are due to start verifying the results.

Nelson Chamisa, a spokesman for Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said reports that his party leader had won 47% of the presidential vote to Mr Mugabe's 43% appeared to be a rumour spread by the government to prepare people for a run-off.

The Zanu-PF youths accused me of not mobilising my subjects to vote for the party, although I got a plough and farming inputs Tendaupenyu Katongomara Traditional chief

The MDC insists its leader, Mr Tsvangirai, won the presidential election on 29 March outright.

Zimbabwe's Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said he was not aware of any election result, urging people to wait for the official results.

In a separate development, Mr Chamisa said 20 people had been killed in politically-motivated attacks in Zimbabwe since the polls.

'Old trick'

Mr Chihuri, a key backer of President Mugabe, described the alleged fraud as "evil" and a new phenomenon.

Human rights groups and the opposition say the ruling party is behind a wave of attacks on opposition activists.

But Mr Chihuri blamed the violence on those who were complaining.

"The old trick of claiming human rights violations when somebody steps on your toe, yet you yourself are poking out other people's eyes, will not work this time around," he said.

Mr Chihuri is one of the Zimbabwean security chiefs who reportedly persuaded Mr Mugabe not to step down immediately after the 29 March elections.

Many of Zimbabwe's top security officials took part in the 1970s independence war and share the president's fiercely nationalistic outlook - blaming the country's problems on the West.

Before the election, Mr Chihuri said he would not allow "puppets" to take over - seen as a reference to the MDC.

'Brutal'

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused the army of organising the attacks on MDC activists, by providing weapons and transport.

Placing wrong candidates in office who were not selected by the people is evil Augustine Chihuri Zimbabwe police chief Key role for security chiefs

"We have seen incidents of people being made to lie on their stomachs. And brutally beaten on their backs and buttocks with logs, thick logs, with iron bars with huge rocks and stones," HRW researcher Tiseke Kasambala told the BBC.

She blamed most of the violence on Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party but said there had been two cases of MDC revenge attacks, which she warned could lead to "anarchy".

A traditional chief in Hurungwe, north-west of Harare, has fled his home after being attacked by ruling party supporters.

"The Zanu-PF youths accused me of not mobilising my subjects to vote for the party, although I got a plough and farming inputs [from the government]," Tendaupenyu Katongomara told a BBC contributor in the area.

The MDC and HRW say the violence is intended to intimidate opposition supporters ahead of a possible run-off in the presidential election.

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai says he defeated President Mugabe outright.

But independent observers and Mr Mugabe's allies say a run-off may be needed as no candidate gained more than 50% of the vote.

UN divided

There are numerous reports of teachers in rural areas saying they had been threatened by Zanu-PF supporters after working as election officials.

One teaching union official said that 9,000 had not reported for work at the start of term this week.

Robert Mugabe blames Zimbabwe's problems on the west

Mr Chihuri said that 108 suspects were helping the police over allegations of fraud.

"Placing wrong candidates in office who were not selected by the people is evil and should never be allowed at all cost," he said.

"This is a new phenomenon in the electoral history of Zimbabwe."

The MDC and Western countries say Mr Mugabe and his supporters rigged previous elections.

The UN Security Council on Tuesday discussed the situation in Zimbabwe but could not agree on what action to take.

UN Under-Secretary for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe told the Security Council that Zimbabwe was in the midst of its worst humanitarian crisis since independence.

He expressed concern about a very high level of political intimidation and violence, and the "use of food as a political weapon".

MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti had travelled to New York to lobby members to send a special envoy and humanitarian assistance.

But countries such as China and South Africa were not in favour of taking any action.