His political opposition also took a hard line on power-sharing, further reducing prospects of a quick resolution after last weekend's run-off election in which Mugabe was the sole candidate.

Leaders at the Egyptian AU summit, in its second and final day, were unwilling to publicly criticise Mugabe and instead gently pushed behind the scenes that he accept some sort of power-sharing agreement.

But Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba dismissed prospects of sharing power and said that the 84-year-old would not step down.

"He's a few days into office and you expect him to retire, do you? ... Five days have expired, not even a week after. ... Why is the issue of the retirement of the president of Zimbabwe such an obsession for the West?" he said.

"He has come here as president of Zimbabwe and he will go home as president of Zimbabwe, and when you visit Zimbabwe he will be there as the president of all the people of Zimbabwe," he said..

The United Nations has "made it clear" that dialogue between Mugabe and his rival Morgan Tsvangirai is necessary, UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said.

"It is the hope of the UN that the African Union and African leaders will get their act together to address this issue," she said.

The United States, Britain and other European countries have widely condemned Zimbabwe's run-off. The US is pushing for more financial and travel sanctions against Mugabe supporters and is urging the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo.