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Agence France-Presse (aka Agence Intelligence-Central) Monday March 18, 1:24 AM Defiant Mugabe calls poll victory a 'blow to imperialism' A defiant President Robert Mugabe shrugged off Western condemnation of the election that returned him to power, saying that the Zimbabwean people had "dealt a stunning blow to imperialism". The man who led the nation to independence in 1980, in a speech laced with the black nationalist and pan-African rhetoric that dominated his campaign, said the people had resolved that "never again shall Zimbabwe be a colony." He also vowed to redouble efforts to correct the "monstrous colonial injustice" that saw the lion's share of Zimbabwe's fertile land controlled by a small minority of white farmers, placing his land reform program at the center of an economic recovery plan. The head of state, 78, after being sworn in at a ceremony here by a white-wigged, red-gowned chief justice, again accused Britain of having backed its "protege", opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai. The former union leader had been tipped to win in a free and fair vote, but the March 9-11 polls were preceded by weeks of violence, and the election was marred by widespread irregularities documented by observers. Immediately after Mugabe was declared the winner, Tsvangirai, 50, rejected the outcome, charging massive fraud. His stance was backed by Britain, the European Union, the United States, local Zimbabwean observers, and -- crucially -- the Commonwealth observer team, which issued a categorical condemnation of the polls. African countries, as well as the Organization of African Union and the Southern African Development Community, have on the whole given the vote a clean bill of health, with few reservations. Mugabe thanked his African supporters -- who also rallied round him when a heated Commonwealth summit this month deferred a decision on Zimbabwe -- and dismissed the broad Western verdict that the election was irrevocably flawed. "It's only free and fair when we, ... we who count much more than you (Europeans), say that we have won," he said. Mugabe said further land reforms would foster the people's economic empowerment, increase agricultural production and help create jobs. Zimbabwe is facing its most severe economic crisis since independence, with soaring unemployment and food shortages that have left more than half a million people in need of emergency assistance. Mugabe vowed to combat galloping inflation -- nearing 120 percent -- which "has had such a devastating effect," leaving four in five of Zimbabwe's 12 million people under the poverty threshold. The government imposed price controls on basic goods to rein in spiralling prices and mollify voters ahead of the election, but crippling shortages resulted. The pro-opposition Daily News, in its editorial Saturday, suggested that Mugabe's victory was a pyrrhic one given the economic crisis. "There are many immediate challenges he must face, and one of the pressing ones is the hunger that is stalking the country's population. He has made his bed. Now he must prepare to lie in it." Two of Mugabe's allies conspicuous in their absence from Sunday's ceremony, South African and Nigerian presidents Thabo Mbeki and Olusegun Obasanjo, find themselves in a diplomatic bind over the scathing report on the election by Commonwealth observers. The pair are members of a "troika" appointed at the Commonwealth summit, along with Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who will meet in London on Tuesday to decide whether the 54-member body, which includes a score of African nations, should sanction Zimbabwe. Mbeki and Obasanjo plan to come to Harare on Monday when they will meet with the president to discuss the scathing Commonwealth observers' report. The pair, who reportedly will press the president to form a national unity government with the opposition -- considered highly unlikely by both camps -- also plan to meet with Tsvangirai. Also absent on Sunday were European diplomats who decided to boycott the ceremony, as well as any members of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which said it had not been formally invited. The MDC has not announced its next move pending a nationwide consultation. Zimbabwe's ZCTU trade union federation is reportedly under pressure from workers to call a mass stayaway, and the National Constitutional Assembly said last week it would stage peaceful demonstrations nationwide in the coming weeks. Independent pollster Masipula Sithole told AFP on Sunday that a rerun of the election was the "only way we are going to get over the impasse" while popular protests were inevitable. A lack of initiative from the ZCTU or the MDC, he said, would increase "the likelihood that they will be spontaneous." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! 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