Zimbabwe presidential runoff to go on

HARARE, Zimbabwe (CNN) - As the hours ticked down toward the opening of balloting places Friday morning, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe showed no indication that he would give into demands to postpone the runoff election despite his challenger's dropping out.

Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change party dropped out of the race earlier this week, citing pre-election violence that he says has targeted opposition supporters.

But the government has said it is too late to take his name off the ballot.