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Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe says the opposition must accept him as the country's leader if it wants to hold talks on ending Zimbabwe's political crisis.

Mr. Mugabe spoke at Harare airport today (Friday) after returning from a summit of African leaders who called for Zimbabwe to form a national unity government following Mr. Mugabe's controversial re-election last week.

Mr. Mugabe today said he is open to dialogue but that the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) must recognize him as president.

The longtime Zimbabwean leader was greeted by thousands of his supporters at the airport.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of the June 27th presidential run-because of what he called systematic violence against his supporters. He told VOA (Studio 7 Zimbabwe) this week that he will not enter any talks with the government unless the violence stops.