HARARE, Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe's longtime ruler Robert Mugabe was sworn in as president for a sixth term Sunday after a widely discredited runoff in which he was the only candidate. His main rival dismissed the inauguration as "an exercise in self-delusion."
Just hours after electoral officials said Mugabe won Friday's presidential runoff, which observers said was marred by violence and intimidation, the 84-year-old leader sounded a conciliatory note.
"Sooner or later, as diverse political parties, we shall start serious talks," he said in a speech following his swearing-in. He also had promised talks on the eve of the vote.
Mugabe, Zimbabwe's leader since independence from Britain in 1980, was expected at an African Union summit that opens Monday in Egypt, where he was to face fellow African leaders who want him to share power with his main rival, Morgan Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, told Associated Press Television News that Sunday's inauguration was "meaningless."
"The world has said so, Zimbabwe has said so. So it's an exercise in self-delusion," he said.
Tsvangirai said he believed members of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party were ready for talks.
"I think that the reality has dawned on all the elites in ZANU-PF," Tsvangirai said. "Without negotiating with the MDC this is a dead-end."
African and other world leaders have condemned Friday's vote. Human rights groups said opposition supporters were the targets of brutal state-sponsored violence during the campaign, leaving more than 80 dead and forcing some 200,000 to flee their homes.
Residents said they were forced to vote by threats of violence or arson from Mugabe supporters who searched for anyone without an ink-stained finger