By MacDonald Dzirutwe
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe willconfront his critics at an African Union summit on Monday,fresh from victory in a one-candidate election which observerssaid was unfair because of violence and intimidation.
Heads of state of the AU, meeting in Egypt, are likely topress Mugabe to enter talks with opposition leader MorganTsvangirai to end the political crisis in a country where ahyperinflation-wrecked economy has produced millions ofrefugees.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has urged supportfor international action against Mugabe's government, includingU.N.-authorised sanctions and an arms embargo.
But the AU seems reluctant to back calls for sanctions,favouring instead a Kenyan-style power-sharing transition.
In an apparent response to pressure for talks, the84-year-old Mugabe -- who has held power for 28 years -- saidin an inaugural speech on Sunday he was committed to dialoguewith the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Tsvangirai has said the MDC was also committed toAU-sponsored talks, though no negotiations have started. But hesaid he would ask the AU not to recognise Mugabe's re-election.
The MDC said the AU should not welcome Mugabe at thesummit.
"I don't think it would be right for the African Union towelcome him after all he has done," MDC vice presidentThokozani Khupe said in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, the summitvenue.
"I think it is important that the African leaders break thesilence. It is high time they call a spade a spade," saidKhupe, adding she had no plans to talk to the Zimbabweandelegation on the sidelines of the summit.
Mugabe left Harare on Sunday night to attend the summit,the state-run Herald newspaper said.
The AU summit may be split between critics of Mugabe, likeKenya, and opponents of any action against him led by SouthAfrican President Thabo Mbeki, who has been widely criticisedfor taking a soft line with his neighbour.
NEW MANDATE
Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga was quoted on Sunday assaying the AU should deploy troops.
"What is happening in Zimbabwe is a shame and anembarrassment to Africa in the eyes of the internationalcommunity and should be denounced," he said.
But AU security chief Ramtane Lamamra played down theprospects of peacekeepers being sent.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said it was importantthe two parties talked, adding it was too soon to talk offoreign peacekeeping forces being sent to Zimbabwe.
"There has to be some sort of negotiations between theparties," he said. "If not, polarisation will be the result."
He added: "There cannot be a sustainable solution to theZimbabwean crisis under the leadership of one or the otherparty."
Djibouti Foreign Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf said Africahad to help prevent civil war in Zimbabwe.
Mugabe began another five-year term on Sunday after beingdeclared the overwhelming winner of an election which pollmonitors said was marked by violence and intimidation.
Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980,was quickly sworn in to allow him to attend the summit.
Tsvangirai withdrew a week before the election, saying asystematic campaign of violence had made a free and fair ballotimpossible. Mugabe won 85.51 percent of the votes, according tothe Electoral Commission.
Human rights groups and witnesses accused pro-Mugabemilitias of forcing people to vote in some areas.
Regional observers said the ballot did not reflect the willof Zimbabweans, adding that pre-election conditions fell shortof Southern African Development Community principles andguidelines for elections.
Pan-African parliament observers said the election was soflawed it should be rerun.
(Writing by Gordon Bell and Barry Moody; editing by AndrewRoche)