Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu (PF) party today endorsed a presidential run-off vote between Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition.

After five hours of talks, the party's 49-strong politburo concluded that Mr Mugabe should stand in a second round of voting if there is no clear winner when official poll results are announced, Reuters reported.

There were suggestions ahead of the meeting that the 84-year-old’s inner circle might suggest that he hand over power to the Opposition.

The ruling party has officially lost parliamentary elections for the first time in President Mugabe’s 28-year rule, but Zimbabwe’s Electoral Commission has yet to publish any results from a parallel presidential contest.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change has claimed that its leader, Mr Tsvangirai, won 50.3 per cent of the vote, enough to claim an outright win without any run-off vote.

The President had appeared in confident mood this morning as arrived at the make-or-break meeting while riot police and pro-Mugabe veterans marched menacingly through Harare.

Relaxed and smiling, Mr Mugabe joked with politburo members before taking the chair, telling one who had lost his parliamentary seat in last weekend’s election that he was “struck by lightning”. He dismissed allegations of vote-rigging with a flick of the hand as he insisted the only foul play was on the part of the opposition.

The charging of two foreigners for allegedly defying a media ban suggested that the veteran strongman and his allies were unwilling to release his grip on power without a fight.

Six days after voters went to the polls to choose between Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai, Harare had the air of a city on the brink. Wary residents formed long queues at street newsstands, waiting for a sign of how their country’s future might unfold.

Adding to tensions were reports of raids at MDC offices in the city and the increasingly threatening presence of riot police and roadblocks on the streets. Escorted by police, some 400 veterans of Zimbabwe’s guerrilla war for black rule, marched through the capital, and while they were silent, there was little doubt that these staunch supporters of the regime were out to intimidate Mr Mugabe’s political opponents.

Mr Tsvangarai, who last year was arrested and severely beaten by Zimbabwean police, was in hiding today after cancelling a news conference. However the MDC reported that he was safe and well.

Barry Bearak, 58, a New York Times correspondent, and a 45-year-old Briton were among four people arrested last night during a police raid on a Harare hotel. The identities of the other two have not been revealed.

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