|PIC1|Zimbabwe's opposition said on Sunday a ruling party demand for a recount of the presidential election was illegal and it feared President Robert Mugabe would unleash violence to stay in power.

The MDC is due to go to court later on Sunday to try and force the release of the presidential result, eight days after Zimbabweans voted in parliamentary and presidential elections.

Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party, defeated by the MDC in parliamentary elections, has asked the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to recount the presidential election results, state media reported on Sunday.

But MDC spokesman Tendai Biti said the request for a recount was illegal and "madness".

"Legally they have no right to ask for a recount, they have absolutely no footing to ask for a recount so what they are trying to do is illegal," Biti told Reuters.

"It's madness literally and metaphorically".

Tensions between the two sides have risen sharply since the March 29 elections, fuelled by opposition suspicions that Mugabe is preparing to rig the outcome of the elections to extend his 28-year rule.

Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, again declared victory over Mugabe in the presidential race on Saturday and accused the 84-year-old leader of "preparing a war on the people".

Mugabe's supporters struck back hours later when state media reported ZANU-PF had asked election officials to defer release of the presidential poll results and conduct a recount and audit of all electoral materials, including ballots.

The MDC will ask the High Court in Harare on Sunday to order the results to be issued immediately.

ZANU-PF and independent monitors' projections show Tsvangirai being forced into a presidential runoff after failing to win an absolute majority in the vote.

Top ZANU-PF officials have endorsed Mugabe for the second ballot.

ZANU-PF now appears to be following a clear strategy, worked out at a politburo meeting on Friday, to overturn Mugabe's biggest election setback by challenging both the parliamentary and presidential poll and mobilising its militia forces.

FEARS OF VIOLENCE

A group of militant liberation war veterans - often used as political shock troops by Mugabe - have emerged to stridently back bid to remain in power.

Zimbabwe state radio reported on Saturday that the war veterans had threatened to occupy all white farms in Masvingo Province amid reports that their original owners were returning to land seized by the government after 2000.

The re-emergence of the war veterans, who led a wave of violent occupations of white farms as part of a government land redistribution programme, raised fears Mugabe's supporters would try to intimidate opponents ahead of the run-off.

It is not clear when any presidential runoff would occur. Zimbabwean law requires it to be held within three weeks of the release of the results announcement. But ZANU-PF has hinted its strategy may include trying to change that.

The ruling party also plans to challenge some of the results of the parliamentary election, which showed it lost control of the lower house. Results from the upper chamber have Mugabe's party winning half of the contested seats.

The state-owned Sunday Mail said ZANU-PF had rejected an opposition offer to form a unity government but the MDC said it had made no approaches to the ruling party.

"That's nonsense. That's absolutely nonsense, we won this election under extremely difficult circumstances. The only thing that worries us is the violence and the war that they have unleashed on the people of Zimbabwe," MDC spokesman Biti said.

He said Mugabe and his ZANU-PF were finished.

"Mugabe is 84 years for Christ's sake...They are geriatrics. They don't have the energy and creativity that we have. We won this election when nobody in hell gave us a chance."

Former colonial ruler Britain and the United States, both of whom have applied sanctions on Mugabe and his top officials, have criticised the election delay and suggested it could be the precursor to a rigged result.

Mugabe's government is widely accused in the West of stealing previous presidential and parliamentary elections, and his removal is seen by Washington and London as necessary to rebuilding Zimbabwe's shattered economy.

Zimbabweans are struggling with inflation of more than 100,000 percent - the highest in the world - mass unemployment and chronic shortages of meat, bread, fuel and other basic necessities.