Johannesburg/Harare  - President Robert Mugabe insisted that Zimbabwe will go forward with runoff elections on Friday despite huge pressure from the international community to delay.

According to a report on South African television, Mugabe told an election rally on Tuesday: "We will proceed with our election."

"Other people can say what they want, but the elections are ours and we are a sovereign state," Mugabe said.

Mugabe's comments confirmed the declaration earlier Tuesday by Zimbabwe's Ambassador the United Nations Boniface Chidyausiku that the vote would go forward.

They were the first government comments since opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai stepped down as a candidate Sunday because of severe attacks by Mugabe's supporters against his Movement for Democratic Change.

At least 86 MDC supporters have been killed since the first round of elections in late March. Thousands have been injured and at least 200,000 dispossessed of their homes and forced to flee.

US Ambassador James McGee told reporters that the election commission had refused to accept Tsvangirai's withdrawal because he failed to give the necessary 21 days notice.

The opposition leader has been holed up in the Dutch embassy for safety. McGee said the government had signalled he could leave the country if he wanted to, but he warned the opposition leader to analyze the security situation carefully before leaving. (dpa)