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04/03/2005:

"Zimbabwe's Neighbors Endorse Disputed Vote"

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Neighboring countries supportive of President Robert Mugabe's increasingly isolated regime on Sunday endorsed his party's sweeping election victory in Zimbabwe, despite widespread allegations the poll was rigged.

Mugabe said he hoped to stay in power until he was 100, as he celebrated Saturday the overwhelming win that secures his nearly 25-year rule and gives his Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front the power to change the constitution.

Observers from the 14-nation Southern African Development Community congratulated Zimbabwe on ``peaceful, transparent, credible and well managed elections, which reflect the will of the people.''

They said problems with voters' being unable to cast ballots affected all parties and did not influence the outcome.

The regional bloc - which also endorsed a 2002 presidential poll widely condemned for violence, intimidation and vote rigging - urged the government to improve voter education and increase access by all parties to state-run media. Similar approval came from a South African delegation.

The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change rejected Thursday's election results as tainted by years of violence and intimidation - a view shared by the United States, Britain and independent rights groups. The party said discrepancies in the results pointed to ballot stuffing.
Full Article: guardian.co.uk

Doesn't sound 'increasingly isolated to me. There is certainly no particular reason to believe the U.S. and Britain, architects of Iraq's glorious election, about the fairness of this one.