UN Security Council takes up Zimbabwe call

France's U.N.  ambassador called on Zimbabwe authorities on Tuesday to publish and accept the results of elections there as the Security Council met for its first session on the Zimbabwe crisis.

Saying the Zimbabwe situation was developing "not in a good direction," Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert said, "The people of Zimbabwe have expressed themselves ... We think at least the government of President (Robert) Mugabe should recognize that by publishing the result of the election and accepting the result of the election."

A presidential election was held on March 29 in the economically crippled country but no result has so far been announced. Zimbabwe's state radio said on Tuesday verification of the results would start on Thursday.

The wait for the result has led to a tense standoff and drawn accusation from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change that Mugabe, who has been in power for 28 years, is trying to rig the result. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai says he won a majority.

Lynn Pascoe, U.N. undersecretary general for political affairs, was briefing the Security Council on the situation.

Ripert told reporters before the meeting he did not expect a "written outcome" from it but that the fact the meeting was held at all would send a signal to Zimbabwe’s authorities "that we are looking very carefully at what they are doing."

Diplomats have said South Africa, which currently holds the Security Council presidency, was reluctant to have it take up the issue of Zimbabwe, which President Thabo Mbeki has said should be resolved through quiet diplomacy. Several council members successfully pressed last week for a briefing by the U.N. secretariat.

Ripert did not rule out that eventually the United Nations could become directly involved but said African mediation should come first.

"We think that the U.N. should be ready to support those efforts or to send its own mission or mediation if needed and if asked," he said. "But for the moment we should support the African mediation."

MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti, visiting New York in connection with the council meeting, said he hoped the United Nations would send an envoy as soon as possible to look into violence and humanitarian issues.

In an interview with Reuters, he suggested Anna Tibaijuka, a Tanzanian U.N. official who visited Zimbabwe three years ago to investigate a government drive to demolish shantytowns.

Biti said Tuesday's briefing "is important in that it's an acknowledgment that there's a crisis but we hope this meeting lays the firm foundation for a future formal meeting on Zimbabwe very soon in which there should be a resolution on Zimbabwe."

Reuters