Mugabe 'wins' in first recount

Harare - President Robert Mugabe's party won in the first of 23 constituencies to complete a recount of votes from last month's general elections, Zimbabwe's state media said on Wednesday.

Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) was confirmed as the winner of both the election for a seat in parliament and the largely symbolic senate in the Goromonzi West constituency, a rural district near the capital, The Herald newspaper reported.

While recounts in 21 of the constituencies were ordered in seats won by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change after complaints of irregularities by Zanu-PF, Goromozi West was one of only two districts to hold a recount in a seat won by Mugabe's party.

The MDC was initially declared to have taken 109 seats against 97 for Zanu-PF in the 210-seat chamber, but Mugabe's party would regain its majority if it could reverse the results in seven or more of the seats under review.