Morgan Tsvangirai

Zimbabwean presidential challenger Morgan Tsvangirai plans to announce on Saturday whether he will take part in a runoff election against the incumbent, Robert Mugabe.

Officials from the Movement for Democratic Change party say Mr. Tsvangirai will make a "definitive statement" on his intentions at a news conference in South Africa's capital, Pretoria.

The candidate has said in the past he will not take part in the runoff unless it is observed by international monitors and run by the regional Southern African Development Community.

Mr. Tsvangirai says he won an outright victory in Zimbabwe's March 29 presidential election.  The electoral commission says he won the most votes but fell short of a majority.

If Mr. Tsvangirai does not contest the runoff, Mr. Mugabe will remain president by default, extending his 28-year rule over Zimbabwe.

Election officials have to announce a date for the projected runoff.  But the MDC and human rights groups say Mugabe loyalists are trying to intimidate MDC supporters in anticipation of the vote.  Today, a Zimbabwean doctors' group said its members have attended to more than 900 cases of torture and assault since the election.

The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights says that figure is likely a fraction of the real number of victims, as many incidents go unreported.

It says the vast majority of those seeking treatment say they were hurt by supporters of President Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party.  ZANU-PF has rejected allegations that it is responsible for the violence.

Mr. Mugabe held talks Friday with visiting South African President Thabo Mbeki, who is trying to mediate an end to the election crisis.  It is not clear whether Mr. Mbeki will meet with anyone from the MDC.  The party has criticized Mr. Mbeki for refusing to take a tough line on President Mugabe.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.