Bob vows to hold power

Harare - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe vowed to fend off his "political death" and urged his party to be ready for new polls as he blamed Britain for the economic woes facing the country.

Closing his Zanu-PF party's 10th annual conference in Bindura, about 80 kilometres north of Harare late on Saturday, Mugabe brushed off international pressure to resign as Zimbabwe crumbles under its worst humanitarian and economic crisis.

"Zimbabweans will refuse that one of their sons must accompany (George) Bush to his political death," he said.

"Is it a ritual now that Bush with his political death must be accompanied by some African from Zimbabwe, and that African must be the leader himself, and that leader is Mugabe?"

Mugabe never mentioned the raging cholera epidemic that has taken more than 1 000 lives since August, and instead focus only on the elections.

"We don't want to be shamed again like what happened in March. If elections are called we should be confident of victory. Provinces should start strengthening the party."

In March, Mugabe's Zanu-PF suffered an historic electoral defeat and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won control of parliament.

The MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the presidency but failed to get the majority vote. He pulled out of a second-round run off in June claiming violence against his supporters. Mugabe was declared the winner.

"The financial system is not under our control. It is in the hands of our detractors. Banks such Standard Chartered and Barclays, they do the bidding of their masters abroad," Mugabe said.

"You can tell from the irregularities they have committed over the past few months."

Zimbabwe, once the breadbasket of Africa, is a net importer of food and facing acute shortages of essential fuel, electricity and medicines. The inflation rate is officially 231-million percent.

A defiant Mugabe led his disciples in chanting: "Zimbabwe will never be a colony again."

Referring to his rival Tsvangirai, Mugabe said, "In a dishonest and hypocritical manner, Britain condemns us as a country violating human rights and imposed a political monster that will oppose all that we fought for."

Mugabe has refused to allow a unity government with the MDC to reverse his controversial policy of seizing white-owned farms to give to blacks.

"We will never allow regression in regard to our land policy," he said.

"The biggest issue is of land. The land has already been given to the people, it will not be returned to whites."

Zanu-PF and the MDC have failed to implement a power-sharing deal signed in September. The pact has stalled as they fight over who should control key ministries.

Under the deal brokered by the former South African leader Thabo Mbeki, Mugabe would remain president while Tsvangirai would become prime minister. - Sapa-dpa