Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Sunday urged his Zanu-PF party to unite behind him in the "war against foreigners," namely the United States and Britain, the dpa reported.
Mugabe, 84, was speaking in Harare at the launch of his campaign to extend his 28-year rule in a presidential election run-off against opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai next month.
"It's a war to defend our sovereignty. We've to bury our differences in Zanu-PF until the war with foreigners is over," Mugabe said.
Tsvangirai, 56, took more votes than Mugabe in the first round of voting on March 29, but not enough, according to the official tally, for an outright victory. A run-off has been set down for June 27.
On Saturday, Tsvangirai returned to Zimbabwe after a six-week absence to kickstart his campaign.
On Sunday, the former trade unionist attended the funeral of slain Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party activist, Tonderai Ndira, one of the 40-plus victims of a campaign of brutality by pro-Mugabe youth militia against opposition supporters since the March elections.