ZIMBABWE - President: 'Enemy' tossed like 'garbage'

HARARE (AP):

ZIMBABWE's LONGTIME president, Robert Mugabe, said Monday his party would not yield its victory in disputed elections and proclaimed he has disposed of his main political rivals, with whom he had ruled in a tense coalition government, "like garbage".

In his first public speech since the July 31 election, Mugabe spoke at the annual Heroes' Day gathering at a national shrine in Harare that honours guerrillas killed in the war against white-minority rule in Rhodesia, as Zimbabwe was known before 1980.

Speaking in the local Shona language, Mugabe called on his main challenger, outgoing Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, to accept defeat, then dismissed him and his followers in scathing language.

"Those who are smarting from defeat can commit suicide if they so wish. But I tell them even dogs will not sniff at their flesh if they choose to die that way," Mugabe said.

He described Tsvangirai as the "enemy" in his party's midst during the shaky coalition brokered by regional leaders after the 2008 elections, which were also disputed and, unlike the recent vote, were marked by widespread violence against opposition supporters.

Mugabe won the July 31 election with 61 per cent of the vote, Zimbabwe's electoral commission has announced, with Tsvangirai getting 34 per cent. Tsvangirai, who alleges widespread rigging and is challenging the poll results in court, stayed away from Monday's gathering.

"We have thrown the enemy away like garbage. They say we have rigged, but they are thieves," Mugabe said, referring to alleged corruption during their time in government. "We say to them: You are never going to rise again."