Zimbabwe opposition leader to return for election runoff

Tsvangirai, addressing reporters in the capital of neighboring South Africa, said his supporters would feel "betrayed" if he did not face Zimbabwe's ruler of 28 years.

"A runoff election could finally knock out the dictator for good," Tsvangirai said. "I am ready and the people are ready for the final round."

No runoff date has been set. Tsvangirai said Saturday it should be held within 21 days of the May 2 announcement of presidential results, but Zimbabwean government officials have said the electoral commission has up to a year to hold the vote.

Tsvangirai said he will return shortly to Zimbabwe and intends to "begin a victory tour." He maintains he won the first round outright and that official figures showing a second round was necessary were fraudulent.

Opposition officials and independent human rights activists have accused Mugabe of orchestrating violence against the opposition since the first round on March 29. Tsvangirai and other top opposition figures have stayed out of Zimbabwe since the initial voting.

Tsvangirai left soon after the news conference for a meeting in Luanda with President Jose Eduardo dos Santos of Angola, who heads the Southern African Development Community election observer mission.

Observers inside and outside Zimbabwe have questioned whether a second round of voting could be free and fair with the opposition unable to campaign freely because of attacks and threats. Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF, meanwhile, already has launched its runoff campaign.

Tapiwa Mudiwa, a 26-year-old supporter of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change, was skeptical Saturday.

"How are we going to campaign in the runoff as MDC supporters?" Mudiwa said in Harare, the Zimbabwean capital. "We can't wear MDC T-shirts. We fear we can't even go for rallies. Cars are being burned."