Spotlight turned on Zimbabwe at UN council

Western states have joined the UN in expressing concerns about Zimbabwe's recent election but most African nations avoided the issue at a Security Council-African Union summit.

"No one thinks, having seen the results of polling stations, that President (Robert) Mugabe has won" the March 29 elections in Zimbabwe, Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the summit.

No results have so far been announced from the presidential vote in the southern African country, a former British colony.

"A stolen election would not be a democratic election at all," Brown said. "Let a single clear message go out from here in New York that we. . . stand solidly behind democracy and human rights for Zimbabwe."

South Africa, current president of the Security Council, scheduled the summit to discuss co-operation between the United Nations and the African Union (AU). It did not include Zimbabwe as an official topic but many Western countries had said they would raise the issue.

"I am deeply concerned at the uncertainty created by the prolonged non-release of the election results in Zimbabwe," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the gathering.

"Absent a transparent solution to this impasse, the situation could deteriorate further with serious implications for the people of Zimbabwe," he said.

South African President Thabo Mbeki, who chaired Wednesday's summit, has insisted that the situation in Zimbabwe is not a crisis and can be resolved through the Southern Africa Development Community, which has avoided a tough stand.

Without mentioning South Africa or SADC by name, Ban made it clear that he was not satisfied with this approach.

"The Zimbabwean authorities and the countries of the region have insisted that these matters are for the region to resolve but the international community continues to watch and wait for decisive action," Ban said.

INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS

One African leader who did mention Zimbabwe was Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, whose country chairs the AU. He praised the SADC for doing a "tremendous job. . . to ensure that the will of the people of Zimbabwe is respected."

Last week the SADC decided not to adopt a tough stance on Zimbabwe but Kikwete said it would meet again soon.

US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said he was "gravely concerned about the escalating politically motivated violence perpetrated by security forces and ruling party militias."

Like Brown, he backed Ban's call for international observers to be deployed in Zimbabwe if a second round of presidential elections were to be held. He suggested that a joint AU-UN mission go to Zimbabwe. Italy, France, Belgium and Croatia also expressed concern.

Other than Kikwete, no Africans mentioned the issue, including Mbeki, who focused on a general need to boost co-operation between the AU and Security Council to improve African peacekeeping operations.

The Security Council is not expected to take any action on Zimbabwe because of resistance from South Africa and other council members. But any discussion of the issue at the meeting helps boost the pressure on Mugabe, Western diplomats say.

Brown, Khalilzad and Ban called for more action to ease the crisis in the western Sudan region of Darfur, where only 9,000 of the required 26,000 UN-AU peacekeepers are deployed.

International experts estimate around 2.5 million people have been displaced and 200,000 have died in five years of violence in Darfur. Khartoum puts the death toll at 9,000.

- Reuters