Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe dismissed opposition claims of violence in state media on Saturday, remaining defiant in the face of Western criticism ahead of next week's tense run-off election.

The 84-year-old leader called the opposition Movement for Democratic Change's (MDC) accusations that its supporters have been targeted in a campaign of violence a ploy aimed at casting the June 27 vote as unfair.

"They have been saying their supporters are being beaten up by our soldiers," the Herald newspaper quoted Mugabe as telling an election rally in the second city Bulawayo on Friday.

"They say this so that they can later say the elections were not free and fair. Which is a damn lie!" he said.

The MDC has said some 70 of its supporters have been killed since the first round of the election on March 29, and human rights groups and Western powers have said the run-off has already been tainted by violence.

But the party said it had won a court order to stage its main pre-election rally on Sunday.

The court on Saturday "granted MDC permission to go ahead with its rally at Harare showgrounds after police had banned (it) on Tuesday," said MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa.

Meanwhile, Angolan President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos issued a rare rebuke to Mugabe, urging him to "cease all forms of intimidation and political violence," Angolan state media reported.

In what the opposition describes as harassment, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has been detained five times while seeking to campaign, while party number two Tendai Biti has been charged with subversion and faces the death penalty.

A court has ordered Biti held in jail until at least July 7 -- well beyond the run-off date.

While the UN has blamed the president's supporters for the bulk of the violence, Zimbabwe's police chief has said the opposition was the "main culprit" and pledged to employ "all necessary force" ahead of the run-off.

Mugabe has vowed that the opposition will never come to power in his lifetime, saying he will fight to keep it from happening, and on Friday, he warned that "only God" could remove him from office.

The opposition has showed signs of division on whether to press ahead with the campaign as violence mounts, and MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa has said a meeting is set for Sunday to discuss the way forward.

Other MDC officials have however dismissed talk of pulling out of the race -- a move that would likely hand victory to Mugabe.

Efforts to resolve the political crisis have so far fallen short, with South African President Thabo Mbeki visiting Zimbabwe earlier this week and holding separate talks with Mugabe and Tsvangirai.

Mbeki is reportedly seeking to have the run-off cancelled in favour of talks on forming a unity government. The United States said Friday it supports his efforts to negotiate a political solution that could include the unity government proposal.

The South African leader has been appointed mediator in Zimbabwe's crisis by the 14-nation Southern African Development Community, though he has faced criticism over his approach of quiet diplomacy.

Tsvangirai has previously called for him to be stripped of his role as mediator.

The UN Security Council was also to resume talks Monday on the political violence and would meet on the outcome of UN troubleshooter Haile Menkerios's recent mediation mission to Harare, diplomats said.

Menkerios, UN assistant secretary general for political affairs, met with Mbeki in Pretoria on Friday following his visit to Zimbabwe.

Besides the violence and police run-ins, the opposition has faced other obstacles including what they describe as a media blackout, with no access to state television, radio and newspapers.

Zimbabwe's state broadcaster said Saturday it has refused to air advertisements from the opposition party because they contain "hate language" due to "words like the face of evil and political terrorism."

Zimbabwe Broadcast Holdings, which includes the country's sole television station and its only four radio stations, also said the ads depicted Tsvangirai as the new president.

"Our view is that this does not portray the correct picture before the pending run-off as it portrays the candidate as already declared winner instead of the correct position that he is vying for the post," ZBH chief executive Happison Muchechetere told the state-run Herald newspaper.

Tsvangirai won the first-round of the vote, but with an official vote total just short of an outright majority.

PHOTO CAPTION:

Mugabe

AFP