Hopewell Radebe
25 April 2008
Johannesburg — THE US called yesterday for the Zimbabwe crisis to be brought to the United Nations (UN) Security Council, saying the country would soon face a grave humanitarian situation because of violence against rural communities.
Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer told reporters in Pretoria the council would then debate the arms embargo on Zimbabwe proposed by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. "We certainly support the prime minister's initiative."
She commended SA's civil society and trade unions for "courageously" blocking the offloading of arms destined for Zimbabwe from a Chinese ship in Durban.
She said the UN should go to Zimbabwe to investigate, and report to the council. A debate in the security council would discourage other countries from selling Zimbabwe weapons, and she believed China would act responsibly by no longer supplying arms.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu has called for an arms embargo on Zimbabwe to avert the escalation of violence.
Frazer said there was no doubt that opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had achieved "a clear victory" over President Robert Mugabe in last month's disputed elections.
Given the delay in releasing the results, the US would greet any results coming out of Harare with great scepticism. She ruled out the possibility of military intervention.
With Sapa-AFP
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