Defiant Mugabe vows to hold Zimbabwe run-off, rival calls for military force

Zimbabwe's leader Robert Mugabe said he was open to negotiations but vowed to press on with a presidential run-off vote marred by deadly violence, as his rival called Wednesday for international military force. "Other people can say what they want, but the elections are ours and we are a sovereign state," Mugabe told a rally in Banket, north of Harare, Tuesday in his first public comments about his opponent's withdrawal from the run-off. He accused the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party leader Morgan Tsvangirai -- who said that violence has made a free and fair vote impossible -- of seeking to withdraw because he was scared of losing.