Zimbabwe presidential candidates to verify vote

HARARE (Reuters) - The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) said on Saturday it would invite candidates to verify the results of the March 29 presidential elections from Monday, before the results are publicly issued.

"We trust that by Monday this process (of compiling recount statistics) will have been concluded," ZEC Chairman George Chiweshe told a news conference.

"Immediately thereafter (we) will invite the ... presidential candidates or their agents to a verification and collation exercise, leading to the announcement of the results of the presidential election," he said.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change says its leader Morgan Tsvangirai beat veteran President Robert Mugabe outright in the poll. The MDC accuses Mugabe of delaying results to rig victory and has rejected the possibility of a run-off.

(Reporting by Cris Chinaka)