Zimbabwe will be on UN Security Council agenda, Ban says (Roundup)

Apr 15, 2008, 20:14 GMT

New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday he planned to raise the situation in Zimbabwe at the UN Security Council's African summit because of the opportunistic presence of African and Western leaders attending the meeting.

The unresolved presidential election outcome had not been placed on agenda of the African summit for Wednesday by council president South Africa. But South African UN Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo said it could be placed there if the world's powers want to debate the issue.

'The meeting will provide a natural opportunity to raise the situation in Zimbabwe,' Ban told reporters. He said he will also discuss with government leaders ways to help resolve the impasse threatening the democratic process in that country.

The African summit at UN headquarters in New York is to be presided over by South African President Thabo Mbeki, whose mediation in settling the dispute in Zimbabwe's presidential vote count has been criticized for being biased in favour of President Robert Mugabe.

Kumalo said Zimbabwe was not on the council's agenda. But he said the United States, Britain and France, three of the five veto-wielding permanent members, could raise the issue during the two-day African debate.

'Those are huge countries,' Kumalo said. 'They can raise whatever they want to raise and all I have said was that we don't expect Zimbabwe to be discussed tomorrow (Wednesday). But they can raise anything.'

Zimbabwe's electoral commission has refused to make public results of the first round of presidential elections held last month and has called for a run-off vote. The opposition said it has won the elections.

Mbeki and the presidents of Ivory Coast, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and a number of deputy ministers and ambassadors will attend the council's African meeting to discuss ways to strengthen the working relationship between the UN and the African Union.