Mugabe arrives at African summit to confront his critics after 'sham' election victory

Mugabe, 84, flew to Egypt overnight soon after being sworn in for a new term, extending his unbroken rule since independence from Britain in 1980.

He was seen entering the summit conference hall in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh with the leaders of Egypt, Tanzania - the AU chairman - and Uganda.

Preparing to face his critics: Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe at the African Union summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt

Indications ahead of the summit suggested the leaders will reject strong Western calls for hefty new sanctions on Zimbabwe and press instead for talks between Mugabe and opposition leader MorganTsvangirai.

It was with pomp, ceremony and a massive dose of defiance that His Excellency Commander Robert Gabriel Mugabe was sworn in as Zimbabwe's president yesterday.

Inside the oak-panelled rooms of State House, as fighter jets roared overhead, he declared himself winner of an election in which he was the only candidate.

Even before he took the oath, he had set in motion bloody recriminations against those who worked against him.

Secret documents outlining the strategy against the opposition Movement for Democratic Change have been seen by the Mail.

They reveal that, in the run-up to the polls, Mugabe had plotted to 'eliminate MDC agents' and ensure that the identity numbers of all voters were taken  -  so they could be found later if they voted for the opposition.

Dictator: Robert Mugabe on his way to be sworn in, accompanied by guards

The documents are from Mugabe's Joint Operational Command, a group of military leaders tasked with ensuring he remained in power.

They state that forces are to 'kill MDC MPs' and that 'postal ballot boxes were to be stuffed in remote areas by death squads (who) have been instructed to abduct and kill whoever gets in his way'.

Mugabe has now issued a chilling warning that more violence is to come.

His election posters have been removed and replaced with signs stating: 'This is the final battle for total control.'

The dictator, 84, had just as carefully choreographed yesterday's ceremony.

Uncontested: Robert Mugabe being sworn in as president

Just before his swearing-in, state-controlled television declared that 'Mugabe, R.G' had won 2,150,269 votes compared to 233,000 for the opposition's Morgan Tsvangirai  -  an apparently stunning reversal of the first elections in March.

Official results said Mugabe won all ten provinces with 85.5 per cent of the vote, but there were many spoiled ballots.

The ceremony at State House, where the former guerilla leader was handed power by Ian Smith's white government in 1980, was planned last week.

Mugabe sang the national anthem as his troops fired a volley of shots in a tent erected on the lawn.

Amid unprecedented security for the inauguration, with soldiers patrolling the streets and helicopters hovering overhead, he then took the oath for his sixth term in office.

As he spoke, Chinese-built MiG fighter jets screamed overhead.

Hailing a hollow victory: Mugabe makes an oath on the Bible

In an extraordinary act of brazen cheek, Mugabe invited Mr Tsvangirai, the leader of the MDC, to the swearing-in ceremony.

Mr Tsvangirai pulled out of the elections a week earlier fearing a bloodbath, and has been given refuge in the Dutch embassy in Harare ever since.

He turned down yesterday's invitation.

'The whole inauguration is meaningless,' he said. 'I can't give support to an exercise I am totally opposed to. The people of Zimbabwe will not give this exercise legitimacy.'

A man and his family look at preliminary results from the election in Harare

After the ceremony, Mugabe's official Mercedes swept out of State House, flanked by armoured vehicles with sirens blaring.

The toll of his victory was laid bare at one Zimbabwe hospital yesterday, in wards choked with victims of appalling brutality by the secret police.

Most had shattered limbs after being beaten with iron bars. Burning plastic had been dripped on others.

Some had iron hooks pushed through their faces and arms.

And gangrene is widespread: many victims took days to reach the hospital after being warned they would be killed if they showed anyone their wounds.

Their president was last night heading off for a meeting of African leaders in Egypt.

Sources close to him revealed he was 'furious and on the warpath'. Because, for the first time in his 28-year rule, Mugabe is facing condemnation from his neighbours including Kenya's prime minister Raila Odinga.

Iron grip: Mugabe meets with Zimbabwean electoral officials in Harare

Botswana also called for Mugabe to go. Michael Otinga, a government minister, said: 'We Africans were oppressed by whites, fought wars of liberation, and now we are allowing blacks to oppress blacks.'

Yet Western leaders are reluctant to step in.

Still haunted by intervention in Somalia in 1990, when the bodies of American soldiers were dragged through the streets, the U.S. is privately lobbying for an 'African solution to an African problem'.

But President George Bush yesterday condemned the violence that left up to 500 dead.

And Gordon Brown pledged 'substantial' help rebuilding the country if democracy was restored.

Foreign Office minister Lord Malloch-Brown went a step further, saying: 'What you cannot accept is the status quo continuing  -  President Mugabe has to go.'

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has been declared landslide winner of a widely condemned election in which he was the only candidate and which African observers said was scarred by violence and intimidation.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew a week ago saying a systematic campaign of violence, which killed nearly 90 of his followers, made a free and fair vote impossible.

The ballot was held in defiance of much world opinion.