Once feted as a champion of democracy, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has been denounced around the world after an election in which he is accused of using brutal violence to maintain his hold on power.

The former liberation hero was sworn in on Sunday, extending his 28-year rule, after standing as the only candidate in a vote African monitors said was not free or fair.

The 84-year-old veteran of the fight to end white minority rule has been defiant since losing to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in the first round of voting in March, accusing the Western countries that criticise his leadership of being responsible for Zimbabwe?s woes.

The opposition and other critics say Mugabe is a dictator who has ruined a once-prosperous country. He has come under increasing criticism from African leaders for violence against opposition supporters and for not calling off the vote.

Nelson Mandela said in a rare political comment last week that he was saddened by ?the tragic failure of leadership in our neighbouring Zimbabwe?. But Mugabe ignored pressure from inside and outside Africa, and pressed ahead with the vote. He is the only leader many of Zimbabwe?s 13 million people have known. Under his stewardship the economy has plunged into disaster.

?Disillusioned man?

Inflation is the highest in the world, officially at 165,000 % but some analysts say the real figure is now 9 million %. Millions of Zimbabweans have fled to neighbouring states to escape poverty and unemployment.

Tsvangirai handed him his first ever defeat in the first round of elections on March 29 but fell short of the majority needed for outright victory. Tsvangirai pulled out of the vote a week ago because of a campaign of violence since the first vote that he says killed almost 90 of his supporters and injured scores of others. ?The world is hearing and the world is seeing that Mr Mugabe is asking Zimbabweans to maim, abduct and kill other Zimbabweans as a campaign strategy,? he wrote in a letter to supporters .

Mugabe was known in liberal circles in the 1970s as the thinking man?s guerrilla. He was jailed for 10 years in 1964 for opposing white minority rule in the then-Rhodesia. After a seven-year bush war ended in a negotiated settlement with Britain and white leader Ian Smith, Mugabe was elected as the first black Prime Minister. He offered forgiveness and reconciliation and was hailed in the West.

He expanded schooling for blacks and presided over an initially booming economy. After two terms as prime minister, he rewrote the constitution and won election as president in 1990.

The change was possible after he crushed a five-year revolt in Matabeleland province, where the discovery of mass graves provoked an international outcry. Mugabe?s troops killed thousands of people in the conflict.

His international isolation accelerated following a land reform programme launched in 2000, when Mugabe encouraged war veterans to seize white-owned commercial farms that earned significant foreign exchange for Zimbabwe. Critics say the land invasions only benefited his inner circle. He blamed Western sanctions, meant to target him and his close allies, for the economy?s decline.

Last week, Britain stripped Mugabe of an honorary knighthood awarded in 1994 ?as a mark of revulsion at the abuse of human rights and abject disregard for the democratic process in Zimbabwe? .

?Mugabe is a disillusioned man surviving on omnipotence and distortion as he approaches the end of his life,? wrote Heidi Holland, a one-time admirer and author of a recent biography. ?He will be remembered by most as a tyrant, by some as a sad figure who suffered and sacrificed.?

CRITICISM

African summit presses Mugabe to negotiate

■ Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe arrived yesterday at an African Union summit where he will be under pressure to negotiate with the opposition after winning a one-candidate election condemned by monitors as unfair and violent. Mugabe flew to Egypt overnight soon after being sworn in for a new term. He was seen entering the summit conference hall in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh with the leaders of Egypt, Tanzania ? the AU chairman -- and Uganda. As Mugabe arrived, regional power South Africa called for his ZANU-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change to enter negotiations to form a transitional government. All eyes will be on how Mugabe is received at the summit after calls from Western powers, human rights groups and the opposition for African leaders to reject him as illegitimate. Seen by many on the continent as a liberation hero, Mugabe is accustomed to standing ovations at African meetings. But his decision to go ahead with the election after the withdrawal of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai provoked unprecedented African criticism.

FACTBOX

What next in this political crisis?

● What happens now?

State media says Mugabe has agreed to post-election talks with the opposition to resolve the political crisis.

Tsvangirai told Britain?s ?Sunday Telegraph? it was not inconceivable that Mugabe could stay on as a titular president with himself in the role of executive Prime Minister. Previously Tsvangirai said if Mugabe goes ahead with the election and declared himself president, he would be shunned as an illegitimate leader who killed his own people.

Governing the country may be tricky for Mugabe because the opposition won control of parliament in the March 29 general election. Mugabe?s ruling party has challenged some of those results.

● What are the impacts on Zimbabwe and neighbouring countries ?

The prospects of reversing Zimbabwe?s economic meltdown are slim without a change in government. Mugabe refuses to consider reforms and Western powers are unlikely to provide the billions of dollars in development aid needed to bail out the economy. Zimbabwe?s neighbours could be swamped with an even bigger influx of refugees. An estimated 3 million Zimbabweans are in South Africa, where there are rising anti-immigrant feelings. More than 60 African migrants were killed in recent attacks by mobs there.

Investors keen to invest in Zimbabwe will keep plans on hold despite a widespread belief that the once-prosperous economy could bounce back quickly under a new government.

● How will Africa react ?

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is under increasing pressure to help settle the crisis. Leaders of the African Union will discuss Zimbabwe at the Egyptian summit , which Mugabe is attending.

Military intervention by SADC or the African Union is not seen as an option. Any such move is likely to face strong opposition from South Africa, the regional political and economic powerhouse.