U.N.'s Ban says Zimbabwe violence threatens election

By Patrick Worsnip

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced "profound alarm" on Wednesday at the crisis in Zimbabwe, saying violence, intimidation and arrests of opposition leaders could not lead to credible elections.

"Should these conditions continue to prevail, the legitimacy of the election outcomes would be in question," Ban told an informal session of the General Assembly in his strongest comments so far on Zimbabwe.

The southern African country will hold a run-off presidential election on June 27 between veteran President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Official results showed Tsvangirai won a first round in March, but did not secure enough votes for an outright victory.

His Movement for Democratic Change, along with Western nations and human rights groups, has accused Mugabe's government of conducting a campaign of violence and intimidation before the run-off vote. Mugabe blames his opponents for the violence.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she and the foreign minister of the West African state of Burkina Faso would chair a round-table discussion on Zimbabwe at the United Nations on Thursday.

The United States is this month's Security Council president and Rice will be there to chair a council debate on violence against women. Diplomats said ministers and officials attending that debate were also expected to come to the Zimbabwe meeting.

U.S. envoy Alejandro Wolff told reporters the 15-nation council was also discussing holding a formal meeting next week to hear a briefing on Zimbabwe from the U.N. secretariat.

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