Harare - After successfully forcing a third day of voting in Zimbabwe's landmark presidential elections, the opposition asked a court on Monday to order one more day of balloting after citing mounting irregularities that included the detention of four US diplomats.
Weary voters in the capital spent a third day standing in lines outside polling stations in the densely populated township areas, although the queues were shorter as many people had to return to work after the weekend.
Despite a High Court order issued late on Sunday, polls opened as late as five hours after the official 7am starting time.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said voting was still running too slowly and complained of mounting irregularities.
"They opened stations five hours late. We need an extension. They should make up for that time," MDC spokesperson Nomore Sibanda said.
"Even after opening up, they then allowed violence to take place, because our people were being beaten up by Zanu-PF thugs," he said, referring to the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front.
He claimed ruling-party supporters attacked a crowd waiting to vote in the satellite city of Chitungwiza. Riot police used tear gas to break up the skirmish, he added.
Despite the incidents, voters in Harare's townships remained determined to cast their ballots, steadfastly standing in the polling queues.
"I can only say that it means one thing. If these thousands of people are not allowed to vote, this is a stillborn election," MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai said.
"MDC will not be part of an illegitimate process to disenfranchise the people," he added.
Four US diplomats, including two accredited election observers were detained for five hours in the northern town of Chinhoyi in what US embassy spokesman Bruce Wharton called "a clear violation" of diplomatic practice.
"We have not been given a satisfactory explanation for the detention," Wharton said, describing the police action as "unprecedented".
The United States slapped personal sanctions on Mugabe in February to protest at the expulsion of EU observers and the government's "blatant campaign of violence intimidation and manipulation of the electoral process."
Tsvangirai accused Zanu-PF of trying to steal the election, saying he was "disappointed by the machinations of this government to try to have a predetermined outcome".
The court's agreeing to his request for a third day of voting was, however, a significant blow for President Robert Mugabe, whose party has lost almost all its support in the cities.
Information Minister Jonathan Moyo told state radio the order to extend polling to Monday was "unnecessary", adding that it was "wrong, wrong, wrong for judges to think that they will direct the registrar general".
The MDC's secretary general Welshman Ncube, meanwhile, was arrested on Monday in Plumtree, a town on the southern border with Botswana, and detained throughout the day, party officials said.
Police two weeks ago accused Ncube, along with Tsvangirai and four other MDC officials, of plotting to kill Mugabe.
At least 33 people have died in political attacks this year, according to human rights groups.
Thousands more have been beaten, kidnapped or otherwise intimidated in a campaign that rights groups and Western nations have blamed on pro-Mugabe militants. - Sapa-AFP