Zimbabwe's Christian community on Tuesday rejected President Robert Mugabe's re-election last month as marred by violence and intimidation and said it would support a government of national unity.

In a statement obtained by Reuters, the heads of all the churches in the predominantly Christian country said the contest between Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was marred by the worst violence since independence in 1980.

Tsvangirai pulled out of a run-off ballot last month, citing a campaign of intimidation and killings by Mugabe supporters that Western governments said made his re-election illegitimate.

US President George W Bush said on Tuesday he was disappointed Russia and China had vetoed broader sanctions against Mugabe and other Zimbabwean officials, but said the United States might impose tougher penalties of its own.

In their statement, the Zimbabwean churches said they were "ready and committed to partner with all efforts that will result in a transitional authority and subsequently a government of national unity, to bring peace stability and reconciliation within the nation".

The Heads of Christian Denominations said torture, murder, abductions, displacement and psychological trauma had fatally undermined the election.

"Our conclusion is that the will of the people of Zimbabwe was not given authentic expression during these elections," they said, adding that the violence was continuing.

Mugabe, aged 84 and in power since the end of British rule, blames the opposition for the bloodshed.


FRAMEWORK FOR TALKS

Tsvangirai has demanded the government halt attacks on his supporters as one of several pre-conditions to negotiating with Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF.

Preliminary talks between Tsvangirai's MDC, a smaller faction of the party and ZANU-PF appear to have stalled despite the efforts of South African mediators to get all three to agree to a framework for more substantial negotiations.

An opposition source said on Tuesday the talks would resume on Wednesday.

Tsvangirai won the most votes in the first round but fell short of the absolute majority needed to avoid a second ballot.

He wants an African Union envoy to be appointed to help mediate talks, something South African Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad rejected on Tuesday.

South Africa and other AU members are pressing Mugabe and Tsvangirai to accept a power-sharing deal similar to the one that ended post-election violence in Kenya earlier this year.

African leaders see a unity government as the way to avert a spread of violence and total economic collapse in Zimbabwe, which has the world's highest inflation rate, estimated at more than 2 million per cent, and chronic food and fuel shortages.

The National Civil Society Assembly, which represents 30 civil groups in Zimbabwe, said on Tuesday it would support a transitional government only if it was headed by someone who was not a member of ZANU-PF or the MDC.

It also wants the mandate of a transitional government to be confined to drafting a new constitution, reforming state institutions and preparing for fresh elections after 18 months.