West urges U.N. sanctions on Zimbabwe

By Claudia Parsons

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States and other Western countries pushed the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to vote this week to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe but Russia, which can veto the move, said it opposed sanctions.

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters after a closed-door meeting on Zimbabwe that he believed there were enough council members in favor of a U.S.-drafted sanctions resolution to pass it this week, if no country vetoes it.

The resolution would impose targeted sanctions on individuals in the government and an arms embargo on Zimbabwe.

South African Ambassador Dumisano Kumalo, whose president Thabo Mbeki is leading the mediation efforts, said council member South Africa opposed the resolution because the situation in Zimbabwe was not a "threat to international peace and security" -- the criterion for Security Council action.

"We share the frustration of everybody, but we are saying don't take measures that are going to complicate the situation and literally blow the country apart," he told reporters.

The African Union has called for talks leading to a national unity government and several African states have said sanctions could lead to civil war in the impoverished country.

Khalilzad said President Robert Mugabe had ignored previous statements by the Security Council and African mediation had not been effective so far. He said it was necessary to use a "stick" as well as a "carrot" in dealing with Zimbabwe.

"This is not an alternative to negotiation, to mediation. This is in support of ... mediation," Khalilzad said.  Continued...