The United Nations Security Council is expected to receive a briefing Tuesday on the crisis in Zimbabwe from the UN Secretariat amid calls by the international community for more substantive action in response to mounting post-election violence.
The Harare government dismissed the scheduled briefing, charging that it was stage-managed by Western powers hostile to President Robert Mugabe.
But the opposition Movement for Democratic Change formation headed by Morgan Tsvangirai, which maintains that Tsvangirai defeated Mr. Mugabe in the presidential vote March 29 whose results have not been released, said MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti would provide information to the Security Council on the crisis.
U.N. High Commissioner on Human Rights Louise Arbour also voiced concern about political violence aimed at opposition members and independent monitors. If attacks on such groups were not checked, she said, the rising violence could have serious consequences for Zimbabwe with implications for Southern Africa too.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Jendayi Frazer said Sunday that the United States would support U.N. sanctions against Zimbabwe if violence continues.
Zimbabwe’s ambassador to the U.N., Boniface Chidyausiku, told reporter Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that London and Washington have instigated the Security Council discussion of Zimbabwe in a bid to undermine Harare.
Spokesman Nelson Chamisa of the MDC formation headed by Morgan Tsvangirai said the U.N. session will be important because it will put Harare under a spotlight.