A subdued Zimbabwe inaugurates Mnangagwa again after vote

Zimbabwe today inaugurated a president for the second time in nine months as a country recently jubilant over the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe is now largely subdued by renewed harassment of the opposition and a bitterly disputed election.

The military-backed President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who again took the oath of office, faces the mammoth task of rebuilding a worsening economy and uniting a nation deeply divided by a vote that many hoped would deliver change.

The 75-year-old Mnangagwa, who took power from his mentor Mugabe with the military's help in November, said "my door is open and my arms are outstretched" to main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa after the Constitutional Court on Friday rejected opposition claims of vote-rigging and upheld the president's narrow July 30 victory.

"It is time to move forward together," said Mnangagwa, who has promised democratic and economic reforms after Mugabe's 37-year rule.

Chamisa yesterday said he respectfully rejects the court ruling and called the inauguration "false."