U.N. sanctions on Zimbabwe could pass this week: France

A young Zimbabwe ruling ZANU (PF) party supporter waves flags for President Robert Mugabe upon his arrival at Harare International airport, July 4, 2008. (REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo)

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council could vote for sanctions against Zimbabwe as soon as this week, France said on Tuesday, despite pressure from African states to give their mediation efforts a chance first.

France's U.N. ambassador, Jean-Maurice Ripert, told reporters before a council meeting on Zimbabwe that while council members would respect the position of the African Union, "the Security Council has to make its own decision."

An African Union summit issued a resolution last week calling for talks leading to a national unity government in Zimbabwe, and several states expressed concerns that sanctions could lead to civil war in the impoverished country.

The United States circulated a U.N. resolution last week that would impose targeted sanctions on individuals in the government and an arms embargo on Zimbabwe.

Asked if there were sufficient votes in the council to pass that resolution, Ripert said: "Yes, I think (so)." Asked if that could happen this week, he said: "We hope."

Ripert said a statement by the Group of Eight on Tuesday agreeing to impose sanctions showed there was global support for tougher measures after a June 27 election in which President Robert Mugabe was the only candidate and the opposition pulled out in the face of violence.

MEDIATION EFFORTS

U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro told the council the United Nations was ready to do whatever was necessary to support mediation efforts by the AU and the Southern African Development Community.

"Zimbabwe's flawed elections produced illegitimate results," Migiro said, briefing council members before they retired behind closed doors to hold private consultations on how to proceed on Zimbabwe.

"The U.N. secretariat stands ready to provide assistance to the mediation mechanism that's being established on the ground under SADC leadership," Migiro told reporters later.

Asked whether she was in favor of sanctions, Migiro said that was a question for the member states to decide.

Tanzania's U.N. ambassador, Augustine Mahiga, whose country chairs the African Union, said there was no disagreement between African and Western countries on the seriousness of the problem in Zimbabwe, only on how to approach it.

He said the consensus among AU countries after a summit last week in Egypt was that "the onus at this point in time is on SADC." He said African efforts, led by South African President Thabo Mbeki, should be given a chance to work.

"Probably there could be a desire and I think wisdom in waiting to see how that goes," he told reporters outside the Security Council.

"Now more than ever before I think the African continent is more united and more seized in addressing this issue."

Migiro said state institutions in Zimbabwe were in a state of paralysis, the rule of law needed to be established and if a food crisis was not addressed, some 5.1 million people would be at risk. "There is a humanitarian crisis," she said.

(Editing by Eric Beech)