HARARE - RESULTS from Zimbabwe's one-man election sure to extend Robert Mugabe's rule were expected on Sunday, with a rapid swearing in planned for the veteran leader.

International condemnation continued of Friday's run-off vote, which was boycotted by the opposition, with the United States pledging to tighten sanctions against Mugabe's 'illegitimate' government.

Results from 210 constituencies that were previously set to be announced on Saturday evening after counting had been completed were later delayed until late on Sunday morning, an electoral commission official said.

According to the official, results from some remote rural areas had still to be collated at the central headquarters of the commission.

'We will continue with the tally tomorrow morning (Sunday) and by 10.00 am (4pm Singapore time), all should be in order,' said the official on condition of anonymity.

Mr Mugabe is certain of a landslide victory after opposition leader and first round winner Morgan Tsvangirai boycotted Friday's run-off poll.

While Zimbabwe had to wait five weeks for the results in the first round on March 29, government sources said 84-year-old Mugabe was expected to be inaugurated on Sunday before flying off to an African Union summit in Egypt.

A visitor to State House, his official residence, said tents were being set up for the ceremony which will mark the start of his sixth term.

Mr Mugabe, who has led the former British colony since independence in 1980, staged the run-off in defiance of widespread calls to shelve it.

Mr Tsvangirai pulled out of the contest last weekend after nearly 90 supporters of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party were killed in attacks he blames on pro-Mugabe militias.

With Mr Tsvangirai having been detained five times during the campaign, the United Nations and regional governments had said the atmosphere precluded the possibility of a free and fair election, but Mr Mugabe pushed on regardless.

Amid widespread reports of people being coerced into voting, Mr Tsvangirai told followers to cast their ballots for Mugabe rather than risk their lives.

In some areas, there were allegations officials were inspecting ballot papers before they were placed in boxes. Those who failed to cast their ballots could be easily identified as each voter had a finger daubed with red ink.

The ballot was widely denounced by the West with US President George W. Bush announcing he had directed sanctions be drawn up against the regime given its 'blatant disregard for the Zimbabwean people's democratic will and human rights.'

The United States and European Union imposed sanctions, including a travel ban and a freeze on bank accounts, against Mr Mugabe's inner circle after he allegedly rigged his 2002 re-election - a move frequently blamed by Africa's oldest leader for the country's economic woes.

Viewed in the first years after independence as a post-colonial success story, Zimbabwe's economy has collapsed since thousands of white-owned farms were expropriated at the turn of the decade.

The one-time regional breadbasket now experiences major food shortages while inflation - officially put at 165,000 percent but in reality many times higher - is the world's highest. -- AFP