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President Robert Mugabe said on Friday that although he accepted the need for negotiations to end Zimbabwe's crisis, the opposition must drop their claim to power and accept that he was the country's leader.

Returning home after an African Union summit in Egypt that called on Tuesday for him to open negotiations with the opposition of Morgan Tsvangirai, Mr. Mugabe struck an intransigent stance.

"Tsvangirai and his group must disabuse themselves of their claim (to power), he said, adding: "We are open to dialogue but reality is reality and it has to be accepted... I am the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe."

As Mr. Mugabe arrived home, neighbouring Botswana called on the Southern African Development Community, the regional body mediating in Zimbabwe, not to recognize Mr. Mugabe's re-election.

Botswana was one of the most outspoken critics of Mr. Mugabe, 84, at the summit.

But Mr. Mugabe, welcomed by thousands of cheering supporters, seemed defiant despite unprecedented African criticism of his decision to go ahead with a June 27 vote in which he was re-elected unopposed.

In a statement apparently aimed at Botswana and Zambia, his chief regional critics, Mr. Mugabe warned his neighbours not to pick a fight.

"If there are some who may want to fight us, they should think twice. We don't intend to fight any neighbours. We are a peaceful country, but if there is a ...neighbouring country that is itching for a fight, ah, then let them try it."

Mr. Mugabe, in power since 1980, insisted that Zimbabwe's crisis, which has ruined the economy and sent millions of refugees into neighbouring states, must be settled internally.

"We are happy that the AU accepted the position that the Zimbabwean problem must be resolved by Zimbabweans through negotiations."

The AU summit in the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh issued a resolution on Tuesday calling for talks leading to a national unity government.

Mr. Mugabe was re-elected in an election that was condemned both inside and outside Africa after Mr. Tsvangirai withdrew because of violence which he said had killed 86 of his supporters.

Mr. Tsvangirai has rejected talks until government-backed violence against his supporters ends. He says Mr. Mugabe's ZANU-PF party must accept him as the rightful election winner, after a first round poll in March in which he defeated the veteran president.

Mr. Mugabe said his land reform program, under which thousands of mostly white-owned were seized and the land redistributed, was irreversible and sanctions against Zimbabwe must be lifted.

The program was said to be a measure to give the properties to landless blacks but critics say many of the biggest farms ended up in the hands of senior military officers and Mugabe loyalists.

The critics say the program caused the collapse of Zimbabwe's once-prosperous economy. Mr. Mugabe blames Western sanctions.

Botswana noted that Mr. Mugabe had ignored appeals from SADC and the UN Security Council to call off the election.

"As a country that practises democracy and the rule of law, Botswana does not ... recognize the outcome of the presidential run-off election and would expect other SADC member states to do the same," Botswana's Foreign Minister Phandu Skelemani said in a statement.

Mr. Mugabe said he wanted South African President Thabo Mbeki to continue mediating in the Zimbabwe crisis, as he has done as the official SADC mediator since last year.

"We are happy that President Mbeki continues to be the facilitator. We have said that the facilitator did nothing wrong," Mr. Mugabe said.

Mr. Mbeki has been widely criticized, including inside South Africa itself, for what is seen as ineffective mediation that favours Mr. Mugabe.

Mr. Tsvangirai says he is not satisfied with Mr. Mbeki and has called for an AU envoy to lead expanded mediation.