Vote recount under way in Zimbabwe

(CNN) -- Zimbabwe officials on Saturday began recounting ballots from the country's disputed election in a move that could overturn a claimed victory by opponents to President Robert Mugabe.

The electoral commission began recounting parliamentary and presidential ballots in 23 of Zimbabwe's 210 voting districts Saturday morning, officials said.

The country's High Court cleared the way for the partial recount Friday when it rejected a petition by the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

The MDC argued the recount would be illegal since the initial presidential results were never announced.

The delayed presidential election results have raised fears that Mugabe, who has been in office for 28 years, is trying to cling to power.

MDC presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai has declared himself the winner over Mugabe, based on vote tallies posted outside precincts.

The electoral commission had already announced the MDC won the majority of the parliamentary seats in the March 29 election.

However, Mugabe's party, ZANU-PF, has vowed to contest 16 seats in that race, and it says there was cheating. It isn't clear whether those seats are among the constituencies to be recounted.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said the recount would take five days.

Meanwhole, a Chinese ship loaded with arms and ammunition bound for Zimbabwe has turned away from a South African port after dockworkers refused to handle the cargo, their representative said.

The An Yue Jiang sat anchored outside Durban's harbor in South Africa on Thursday. The ship was "probably going to the nearest port, which is Maputo, Mozambique, from where it could also be transshipped to Zimbabwe," David Cockroft, general secretary of the International Transport Workers Federation, told CNN International on Friday. E-mail to a friend

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All About Zimbabwe • Robert Mugabe • Morgan Tsvangirai