Harare/Johannesburg - President Robert Mugabe has indicated clearly for the first time that he will disregard the result of elections if his Zanu-PF party loses, according to reports in the state press Monday.

"We fought for this country and a lot of blood was shed," the state-controlled daily Herald quoted him as telling a rally on Sunday in Silobela, a village in the country's central midlands province.

"We are not going to give up our country because of a mere X. How can a ballpoint pen fight with a gun?"

Senior officials in Mugabe's administration, including top army officials, have made similar remarks during campaigning ahead of the presidential run-off between Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, the head of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party on June 27.

Two weeks ago, Mugabe's wife, Grace, declared publicly: "Morgan Tsvangirai will never step foot in state house (the official presidential residence)."

The 84-year-old leader's remarks indicate he has hardened his position in the last week, while human rights workers and MDC officials report escalating violence in crowded, poor townships around Harare, where mobs of Zanu-PF youths dragging people out of their homes at night, beating them up and forcing them to denounce Tsvangirai.

Legal analysts say Mugabe's threat to fight against a constitutionally-elected government and president are "treasonous."

Tsvangirai and the MDC inflicted the first election defeat on Mugabe and his party, winning parliamentary elections and taking a majority in the presidential vote.

Official results showed that Tsvangirai had failed to obtain more than 50 per cent of the vote needed for an outright win in the presidential election, making a run-off necessary.

The MDC says nearly 70 people have been murdered, several of them burned alive and mutilated, nearly 3,000 have had to be treated in hospital and 25,000 have been driven from their homes.

On Sunday, the Herald quoted Mugabe as saying that thousands of Zimbabweans had died during the 1973-1979 civil war against white minority rule, and that "any attempt to reverse the gains of the struggle would be fiercely resisted."

Mugabe claims the MDC is run by the governments of Britain and the United States.

Observers say his remarks may indicate growing anxiety that he may lose the election despite the violence in the 10-week campaign period, and exacerbated by the dramatically accelerating economic decline.

The Zimbabwe dollar trading Monday at 5.2 billion against the US dollar, compared with Zimbabwe dollars 3.5 billion: 1 on Friday. (dpa)