Zimbabwe churches criticise poll

The majority of Zimbabweans are practising Christians

Church leaders in Zimbabwe have for the first time raised serious concerns about presidential election results.

The heads of all Zimbabwe's Christian denominations said the poll was not an expression of the will of the people.

In a statement, they said people were subjected to violence that included torture, murder, abductions, displacement and psychological trauma.

The church leaders urged a transitional authority be set up, and said the churches could play a role in talks.

President Robert Mugabe, a Catholic, won the 29 June run-off election unopposed after his rival, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai, pulled out citing state-sponsored violence.

We the churches of Zimbabwe stand ready and committed to partner with all efforts that will result in a transitional authority Father Fredrick Chiromba, Heads of Christian Denominations Have Your Say: What price for peace?

Zimbabwean journalist Brian Hungwe says the ruling Zanu-PF and MDC negotiating teams are back from South Africa after four days of closed door negotiations in Pretoria.

Last week, Russia and China vetoed a resolution at the UN Security Council to impose targeted sanctions on Mr Mugabe and 13 of his allies.

South Africa, which is mediating talks between the two sides in Zimbabwe, said sanctions would interfere with attempts to form a national unity government.

'Spirit of forgiveness'

The statement from the Heads of the Christian Denominations in Zimbabwe comes after a meeting of church leaders.

Mr Mugabe won the 29 June run-off election unopposed

They said that based on the reality of conditions on the ground, their conclusion was that the will of the people of Zimbabwe was not given authentic expression in the elections last month.

They called on God to have mercy on Zimbabwe and to give the nation "the spirit of forgiveness".

Father Fredrick Chiromba, the group's executive secretary, says a culture of tolerance no longer exists in Zimbabwe.

"People up to now are perhaps failing to realise the need for unity and diversity... sometimes people think of that unity in terms of uniformity whereas we can be united by being diverse," he said.

He added that the churches wanted to help in the current crisis.

"We the churches of Zimbabwe stand ready and committed to partner with all efforts that will result in a transitional authority and subsequently a government of national unity to bring peace, stability and reconciliation within the nation."

Mr Tsvangirai won the first round of Zimbabwe's presidential elections on 29 March, but official results gave him less than the 50% share needed to avoid a run-off.

The MDC says 113 of its supporters have been killed, some 5,000 are missing and more than 200,000 have been forced from their homes since March.

The majority of Zimbabweans are practising Christians.

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A special one-hour programme of BBC Focus on Africa exploring the political, economic and social prospects for Zimbabwe will be broadcast on Tuesday 15 July at 1500 GMT on the BBC World Service.