Robert Mugabe has launched a stinging attack on his opposition rivals in his first public speech since he won Zimbabwe's disputed presidential election.
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| Mr Mugabe won 61% of the vote in the disputed 31 July presidential vote |
Rejecting PM Morgan Tsvangirai's claims the vote was stolen, he said those against him could "go hang".
Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) boycotted the speech.
The party has lodged a legal challenge against the result of the "stolen election", demanding it be rerun.
Mr Mugabe won 61% of the vote in the election on 31 July,
while Mr Tsvangirai came second with 35% and Welshman Ncube third with
3%, according to official results.
The president's Zanu-PF party also gained a parliamentary majority of more than two-thirds, winning 160 of the 210 seats.
In his Heroes' Day speech, which dealt with a series of
national issues, Mr Mugabe focused at one point on his election victory
and called for celebrations.
"Those who lost elections may commit suicide if they so wish. Even if they die, dogs will not eat their flesh," he said.
He did not directly name Mr Tsvangirai, at all during the speech.
Zimbabwe's Western detractors had been "put to shame", he added. "Never will we go back on our victory."
Non-governmental organisations had been used to rig elections
in 2008, he added, but Zanu-PF had never stopped planning since then
and had "buried thieves in our midst".
Mr Tsvangirai won the first round of the 2008 presidential vote but
official results said he had failed to win outright. He later pulled out
of the second round because of attacks on his supporters.
Deep rifts
Heroes' Day is Zimbabwe's proud annual celebration, when the
country remembers those who died during the 1970s fight for
independence, reports the BBC's Mark Lowen in Johannesburg.
Mr Mugabe was speaking at National Heroes' Acre, the monument in the capital where some of those killed are buried.
Mr Tsvangirai earlier called for calm, saying there was no national celebration for the day but rather "a nation in mourning".
In a statement, published by the NewsDay
newspaper, Mr Tsvangirai said the majority of Zimbabweans were "still
shocked at the brazen manner in which their vote was stolen".
"We must all remain calm as we celebrate Heroes' Day. I know that we will always be a heroic people."
The MDC's boycott of the national commemoration has exposed
the deep rifts at the heart of this troubled country, our correspondent
says.
Mr Mugabe has not yet been sworn in for a seventh consecutive
term, since the appeal is ongoing. He maintains that he and Zanu-PF won
free and fair elections.
The MDC has said it has "strong evidence of electoral
irregularities", including bribery, abuse of "assisted voting", and
manipulation of the electoral roll.
African and regional monitors praised the poll for being peaceful but noted some irregularities.
But a local observer group, the Zimbabwe Election Support
Network (Zesn) and its network of 7,000 observers, said that about one
million voters - mainly in urban areas - were "systematically
disenfranchised" by being omitted from the voters' roll or turned away.
The nine-member Constitutional Court is expected to discuss
the complaint this week. It has up to two weeks to deliver its verdict.
But with several judges being supporters of Mr Mugabe, our correspondent says few expect the MDC challenge to bear fruit.
In a separate development on Sunday, state radio reported
that the ministry of mines had denied a report in the Times newspaper
that it had agreed to sell Iran uranium for its nuclear programme.
A ministry statement was quoted as stressing that the report
was "a malicious and blatant lie", and that no export licences had been
issued.
Iran's foreign minister has also denied the report.
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