African election observers have attacked the credibility of Zimbabwe's presidential run-off on Friday.

In reports issued Sunday, the Election Observer Mission of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) declared that polling "did not represent the will of the people of Zimbabwe," and the Pan-African Parliament's mission said the election was not free and fair.

The SADC mission said the process leading up to Friday's vote failed to conform to SADC's principles and guidelines for running elections.

In other observations, it said:

- The run-up to the election was characterised by "politically-motivated violence, resulting in loss of life, damage to property and serious injuries."

- Opposition campaigning was disrupted, and the mission experienced "regrettable inaction of... law enforcement agencies."

- State media were one-sided and carried no advertisements for the opposition.

- Observer teams were often harassed.

The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) mission reported "hate speech, incitement of violence and war rhetoric," as well as "high levels of intimidation, violence, displacement of people, abductions and loss of life." It said that "political tolerance in Zimbabwe has deteriorated to the lowest ebb in recent history."

Both missions noted that some voters had expressed dissatisfaction with the elections in remarks written on spoiled ballot papers. Among them were "Let there be free and fair elections," and "No to dictatorship." The PAP also reported more "unpalatable messages."