 Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed deep concern Monday at the rising levels of violence and intimidation in Zimbabwe and called on African leaders to resolve the electoral crisis quickly, peacefully and with the agreement of the parties.
Ban told reporters he is consulting with leaders from the African Union and the Southern African Development Community on how the organizations can work together and help the Zimbabwean situation "reach a very harmonious and credible" solution.
| Yeah. So they can go back to being the Breadbasket of Africa. |
He said among the ideas he plans to discuss with African leaders are the possibility of shooting Bob sending a U.N. envoy to Zimbabwe and providing U.N. monitors for a runoff election.
| From someplace noted for the transparency and honesty of its elections, no doubt. Someplace like Pakistain or maybe Cuba. |
Zimbabwe's Electoral Commission announced last Friday that opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai won 47.9 percent of the vote in the first round of Zimbabwe's March 29 presidential elections — more than longtime President Robert Mugabe who got 43.2 percent, but not enough to avoid a runoff. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change rejected the long-awaited outcome, claiming the opposition leader won outright, and has not said whether he will participate in a runoff against Mugabe. Tsvangirai's party and independent rights groups have accused Mugabe of delaying the official results while his army and party militants mounted a campaign of violence and intimidation intended to undermine support for the opposition before any runoff. |