Votes from 23 constituencies will be recounted on Saturday, local media say.

A change in the parliamentary result by nine seats could see President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party regain its lost majority in the assembly.

A key minister said the army would not be used against the people, despite opposition claims of intimidation.

Two weeks after the elections, official results of the presidential race have not been released.

   
They had custody of the ballot boxes for two weeks and they must have stuffed them with their votes
MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says it won the presidency and has accused President Mugabe, who has been in power since 1980, of a de facto coup and campaign of violence ahead of a possible run-off vote.

But Information Minister Sikhoanyiso Ndlovu told the Sunday Mail that "the army will not fight against Zimbabweans because it is there to protect them".

He said there was "no military junta" in the country, soldiers were in their barracks and were not fully needed in "such a peaceful environment".

MDC lawyer Selby Hwacha said the party planned to fight in court the recount announced by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and Secretary General Tendai Biti, SADC summit, Zambia
Opposition leaders fear a vote recount would be fixed

"We will see how they play it out, but we will challenge it," he said.

Accepting a recount would be "accepting rigged results," MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa told Reuters news agency.

"They had custody of the ballot boxes for two weeks and they must have stuffed them with their votes."

ZEC chairman George Chiweshe said the results from 22 districts had been disputed by the ruling Zanu-PF party, while the MDC contested the count in one constituency.

The recount will be of all presidential, parliamentary, senate and council votes cast in the 29 March elections in the affected constituencies.

The developments followed a call from southern African leaders for the still unpublished presidential poll results to be speedily announced.

After a summit in Zambia aimed at breaking the deadlock in Zimbabwe, Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders also urged all parties to accept the election results and asked South African President Thabo Mbeki to continue his role as SADC's "facilitator on Zimbabwe".

Mr Mugabe declined an invitation to the summit of the 14-nation body, sending a delegation of ministers instead.

MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti described the summit outcome as a "major improvement".

Source: BBC