Computer hackers have attacked the website of Zimbabwe's state-owned Herald newspaper.

The website has been shut down since Saturday. Visitors to the site are being redirected to the website of the state-owned Sunday Mail newspaper.

The Herald is regarded as the official mouthpiece of President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party.

The company's IT Manager, Thomson Ndovi, confirmed that the newspaper had been hacked.

"We are still waiting for our service providers to give us feedback," he told Reuters, "but we should be up and running by tomorrow".

Headlines on the site were replaced by the word Gukurahundi.

The word refers to a campaign of mass slaughter that the government has been accused of carrying out after independence.

Human rights groups say the government killed about 20,000 people in Matabeleland in western Zimbabwe in the early 1980s.

Zanu-PF says at the time it was suppressing an insurgency by the then opposition Zapu renegades.

It also disputes the number of people killed.

The leader of the opposition MDC, Morgan Tsvangirai says he will contest a run-off presidential vote against Robert Mugabe.

He still believes he won the first round outright and accuses the ruling Zanu-PF of vote-rigging.

Zimbabwe's Electoral Commission says the second round may be delayed due to logistical problems.

It says it is unlikely the run-off could be held by 23 May, as stipulated by law.

According to official declarations, the opposition leader won 47.9% of the vote, against 43.2% for Mr Mugabe.

Although the first round was largely peaceful, the results were not announced until 2 May.

The MDC says the delay gave the authorities time to rig the counting and carry out attacks on its supporters.


Source: BBC