Seven election officials were arrested on Monday for undercounting votes cast for Robert Mugabe in the Presidential election, while the county's High Court postponed a decision on whether the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) should be forced into releasing presidential election 24 hours later.

The accused officials, who worked in four provinces that voted in the national elections nine days ago, will be charged with fraud.

We're still investigating, but we have established that there was deflation of figures in respect of one candidate ... the ZANU-PF presidential candidate (Mr Mugabe), said Wayne Bvudzijena, a police spokesman.

The seven officials are from provinces across the country and are expected to appear in court tomorrow, Bvudzijena added.

Election results remain unannounced, adding to mounting speculation that Mugabe may rig the elections, to overcome a majority won by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

The opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has insisted he won the March 30 election by a slim majority over Mugabe's ZANU-PF party.

Mugabe, the country's president for 28 years ago, has requested the ZEC to recount the results, even before they have been publicly released. Meanwhile, Tsvangirai's MDC party, asked the High Court to force the election commission to release the results. Mugabe said he would contend to a second round of voting if no candidate attained 50 percent plus one vote.

The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, urged Zimbabwe's election commission to discharge its responsibility and release the results expeditiously and with transparency.

Ban said in a statement he is concerned that presidential results have not been released in spite of the constitutional deadline and noted that the people of Zimbabwe had cast their ballots in a responsible and peaceful manner.

He asked both parties involved to practice restraint and calm and to resolve all issues regarding the elections through legal means and dialogue for the good of all Zimbabweans.

Zimbabwe