U.S. suspicious over Zimbabwe result delay

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States voiced suspicions on Thursday over why the release of Zimbabwe's presidential election results was delayed and raised concern over possible manipulation in the vote counting.

"Any fair-minded observer has to have serious concerns about the fact that these results have not been released yet," said State Department spokesman Tom Casey.

"There should be results announced as soon as possible and delays in that raise serious questions in our mind as to what exactly is going on in the vote-counting and tabulation process and whether in fact there might not be some manipulation involved," he told reporters.

Casey said problems in the run-up to the vote last Saturday, including over-production of ballot papers, had raised questions about "some kind of chicanery or some kind of efforts to manipulate the ballot."

Results from Zimbabwe's senate election, which are due before an announcement on the outcome of the presidential race, have also been delayed. Zimbabwe's Electoral Commission said on Thursday the Senate results were held back because of "logistical problems."

Independent predictions put opposition politician Morgan Tsvangirai very close to the absolute majority needed to avoid a run-off with President Robert Mugabe.

"Given how close some of these independent accounts make it appear, that is again all the more reason why we need to see an official tally and see it soon and have assurances made that this is a correct counting of the votes." said Casey.

The United States has been very critical of Mugabe and his 28-year rule since independence from Britain, saying his "mismanagement" resulted in Zimbabwe's economic collapse.

Zimbabwe has the world's highest inflation rate of more than 100,000 percent, a virtually worthless currency and severe food and fuel shortages.

Mugabe blames his nation's economic woes on Western sanctions spearheaded by Britain and the United States.

"If you look at what has happened over the course of the past few years it has gone 180 degrees in the wrong direction," said Casey.

Asked whether he thought it was time for Mugabe to step down, Casey said: "We have made no secret of our views over the mismanagement of Zimbabwe and the unfortunate consequences for the Zimbabwean people of President Mugabe's rule."

(Reporting by Sue Pleming, Editing by Sandra Maler)