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Zimbabwe

Chronology - Crisis over Zimbabwe's elections

July 12 (Reuters) - Here is a chronology of the main developments since Zimbabwe's presidential, parliamentary and local elections took place on March 29.

March 30 - Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) claims victory in presidential and parliamentary elections based on early results.

April 2 - Parliamentary election results show President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF has lost its majority for the first time since independence in 1980.

May 2 - Electoral body says MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai won most votes in the presidential election, but not enough to avoid a run-off against Mugabe. Opposition rejects the result.

May 24 - Tsvangirai returns to Zimbabwe to contest the run-off after several weeks abroad, even though he says first round results were rigged to deny him outright victory.

June 4 - Police detain Tsvangirai for more than eight hours while he was campaigning for the run-off. He is eventually held five times.

June 22 - Tsvangirai says he is pulling out of the run-off because attacks by Mugabe's supporters have killed 90 of his followers, making a fair election impossible.

June 23 - U.N. Security Council unanimously declares a free and fair presidential election run-off impossible.

June 25 - Zimbabwe's neighbours in the Southern African Development Community call for the vote to be postponed.

June 27 - Zimbabwe goes ahead with the run-off vote. Witnesses say some people are forced to vote for Mugabe.

June 29 - Mugabe is declared the winner with over 85 percent and is sworn in for a new term. Observers from the Pan-African parliament say the vote was flawed and should be re-run.

July 1 - African Union summit calls for a government of national unity in Zimbabwe.

July 2 - Tsvangirai rejects talks on a unity government, saying President Mugabe must first stop violence and accept him as the rightful election winner.

July 4 - Mugabe, defiant despite condemnation of his re-election, says the opposition must drop its claim to power and accept that he was the rightful head of state.

July 8 - The Group of Eight leaders agree at their annual summit, to impose sanctions against Zimbabwe's leadership because of violence during the widely condemned re-election.

July 11 - Russia and China veto a Western-backed U.N. Security Council resolution to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe.