Mugabe 'would accept run-off defeat to Tsvangirai'

Mr Tsvangirai beat Mr Mugabe in the presidential poll in March but failed to win an absolute majority.

His party, the Movement for Democractic Change, accused the Harare government of rigging the first polls and fears it will do so again in the 'run-off' election of June 27.

Grassroots legacy: Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe speaks to party supporters at the launch of his presidential run-off campaign

But Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mr Mugabe's election agent, said: 'If the president loses, he will be the first one to go on television to acknowledge the result to the people.'

He added that 84-year-old Mr Mugabe and his ruling Zanu-PF party were confident they would win the second round of voting.

Mr Mugabe, who has been in power since 1980, blames Western 'sabotage' for his country's economic meltdown.

He began his reelection campaign by accusing the U.S. of political interference in Zimbabwe's affairs.

Mr Tsvangirai called on the government to end the political violence that has engulfed the nation since the March elections.

Mugabe threatened to kick out U.S. ambassador James McGee and said the State Department's top Africa envoy had behaved like a prostitute for suggesting that Tsvangirai had won the March 29 poll. The MDC won control of parliament in a parallel election.

Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, routinely accuses the U.S. and Britain of backing the MDC to punish him for seizing thousands of white-owned farms since 2000.

The southern African nation is struggling with inflation of more than 165,000 percent, unemployment of 80 percent and chronic food and fuel shortages.

Some 3.5 million people have fled to South Africa and other countries to escape poverty and malnutrition.

Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party have signalled they intend to pursue a grassroots campaign focused on voter canvassing and small village meetings ahead of the run-off, eschewing the mass rallies they have favoured since 1980.

The MDC draws much of its backing from the capital Harare and other cities.

Mugabe, whose popularity has plunged as the economy has collapsed, needs to be able to offset that if he is going to win.

The Zimbabwean ruler is still admired by many of his own citizens and others in Africa for leading the battle to end British colonial rule, and a grassroots campaign may tap into that legacy.

Tsvangirai also launched his campaign after returning to Zimbabwe on Saturday for the first time since early April, repeating his demand that the government end the political violence that has engulfed the nation since the March polls.

The MDC says dozens of its supporters have been killed or beaten in an intimidation campaign orchestrated by ZANU-PF. The ruling party says the MDC is responsible for the bloodshed.