The international community, led by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, has signalled its growing impatience with the failure of southern African governments to resolve the impasse over Zimbabwe's election results.
Addressing a UN Security Council summit in New York on Wednesday, Ban noted that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Zimbabwe had both insisted that the issue was for the region to resolve.
He added: "But the international community continues to watch and wait for decisive action. The credibility of the democratic process in Africa could be at stake here."
Welcoming Ban's words, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the meeting he supported African Union (AU) and SADC efforts "to ensure the will of the Zimbabwean people is upheld." But he continued that "it is also time for the UN... to do more to help." And Zalmay Khalilzad, the United States' ambassador to the UN, called for a joint UN-AU mission to ensure that Zimbabwe's electoral authorities complied with SADC electoral principles.
The summit was convened by South Africa, in its capacity as this month's chair of the UN Security Council, to discuss how the UN and the AU can act to further peace and security. It was chaired by South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki.
Addressing the issue of Zimbabwe early in his remarks to the summit, Ban said he was concerned by "the uncertainty created by the prolonged non-release of the election results... Absent a transparent solution to this impasse, the situation could deteriorate further with serious implications for the people of Zimbabwe."
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He said if there was a second round of presidential elections between President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, they had to be conducted with international observers present.
Saying "a stolen election is not a democratic election at all," Brown told the summit that "no one thinks, having seen results at polling stations, that President Mugabe has won this election."
According to a spokesman for the prime minister, Brown also demanded international monitoring of any second round in remarks he made to journalists after the meeting.
In a transcript of Khalilzad's remarks released by the U.S. mission to the UN, the ambassador said the United States was "gravely concerned about the escalating politically-motivated violence perpetrated by security forces and ruling party militias that target opposition supporters in rural areas."
He added: "The government and its supporters must desist immediately from violence and intimidation, act with restraint, respect human rights, and allow the electoral process to continue unfettered."
