US claims electoral irregularities in Zimbabwe's presidential poll

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday claimed "substantial electoral irregularities" in Zimbabwe's presidential poll, urging regional blocs to address the concerns expressed. "In light of substantial electoral irregularities reported by domestic and regional observers, the United States does not believe that the results announced today represent a credible expression of the will of the Zimbabwean people," he said in a written statement. "Though the United States was restricted from monitoring these elections, the balance of evidence indicates that today's announcement was the culmination of a deeply flawed process," he said, citing what he called irregularities in the provision and composition of the voters roll, and unequal access to state media by the parties. He called on the Southern African Development Community and the African Union to address the concerns raised about the electoral process. "We further call on all parties to refrain from violence during this period," he added. Zimbabwe's incumbent president Robert Mugabe, 89, was announced the winner by garnering 61.09 percent of the votes. He will start another five-year term in office, extending his 33-year rule since the country's independence in 1980. Defense Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, a senior member of Mugabe' s Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front party, said the vote was "free, fair, peaceful and credible" that reflected the will of most Zimbabweans. Morgan Tsvangirai, prime minister of the coalition government and Mugabe's closest rival in the poll, won 33.69 percent of the votes. He refused to accept the results and vowed to challenge them by all legal means on the grounds that the elections were fraudulent. The United States imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe after most white farmers lost their land mainly to formerly disadvantaged blacks in the South African nation's land reform in 2000, and after the general elections the same year were allegedly rigged.