UN: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recommends that Zimbabwe elections do not proceed on Friday

Record ID: 559979

  • Title: UN: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recommends that Zimbabwe elections do not proceed on Friday
  • Date: 24th June 2008
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF NEWSPAPER HEADLINES
  • Embargoed: 9th July 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAERAD26ZDDQKVNSGNDX3ARSOFV
  • Story Text: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday (June 23) "strongly discouraged" Zimbabwe's government to press ahead with its plans to hold a second-round presidential election this week, saying the results would lack legitimacy.
    "Conditions do not exist for free and fair elections right now in Zimbabwe. There has been too much violence, too much intimidation. A vote held in these conditions would lack all legitimacy," he told reporters after meeting with the 15-nation Security Council.
    Ban also responded strongly to the oft-raised question that the Zimbabwean election crisis is an internal matter and should be dealt with by the Zimbabwean government.
    "This has implications beyond, beyond Zimbabwean borders. It has great implications to peace and stability and particularly when it comes to humanitarian situations, to all the region and Africa. As I said, the credibility of Zimbabwe and the African Union is at stake."
    Earlier, France's ambassador, Jean-Maurice Ripert also insisted that problems in Zimbabwe are indeed the responsibility of the Security Council.
    "There is no question that the Security Council is in charge of peace and security, this is the Charter, this is the mandate of the Security Council and I think today we have to deal with that, to face our responsibility," he said.
    Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai took refuge in the Dutch embassy in Harare after pulling out of the election because of attacks on his supporters.
    Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change said police raided its Harare headquarters on Monday (June 23) and took away more than 60 victims of the violence sheltering there, including women and children. The MDC says nearly 90 of its supporters have been killed by militias backing Mugabe.
    Zimbabwe's presidential run-off is scheduled to take place on Friday (June 27).
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