Harare: Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe today told a rally "we will proceed with our election" and accused the opposition leader of seeking to withdraw because he was scared of losing.

"We will proceed with our election ... Other people can say what they want, but the elections are ours and we are a sovereign state," Mugabe told a rally in Banket, north of Harare in his first direct comments about the opposition leader s withdrawal.

"MDC leader (opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai) saw this wave of political hurricane coming his way. He is frightened, frightened of the people," Mugabe said.

The government had already earlier vowed to push ahead with the presidential run-off election on Friday, defying international criticism and even as Movement for Democratic Change leader Tsvangirai remained holed up in the Dutch embassy.

"We hear that he has sought refuge at the Dutch embassy. Seeking refuge, what for? Nobody wants to harm him," Mugabe said.

Tsvangirai announced over the weekend he was pulling out of the election because of rising violence, saying he could not ask supporters to risk their lives by casting ballots.

In a seven-page letter to the electoral commission on Tuesday he laid out his concerns in detail, saying 86 people had been killed, 10,000 homes destroyed and 200,000 people displaced in the violence.

Mugabe denied the accusations of violence by supporters of his ZANU-PF party and once again blamed the opposition.

Source : PTI