No going back on poll result: Mugabe

Zimbabwe's longtime President Robert Mugabe says his party will not yield its victory in elections that although disputed were endorsed by African observers and conducted without the violence that marred previous polls.

 

In his first public speech since the July 31 elections, Mugabe spoke Monday at the annual Heroes' Day gathering that honors guerrillas killed in the war for independence in 1980 at a national shrine outside Harare.

 

Zimbabwe's July 31 polls gave Mugabe 61 percent of the vote, trailed by outgoing Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai with 34 percent.

 

The 89-year-old president said Zimbabweans voted freely: "We are delivering democracy on a platter. Never will we go back on our victory."

 

Tsvangirai, who is challenging the poll results in court and alleges widespread rigging, stayed away from Monday's gathering.

 

-The Associated Press