G8 leaders refusing to accept result of Zimbabwe election 27/06/2008 - 13:42:49
Foreign ministers from the world's wealthiest nations said today they would not recognise the outcome of the run-off presidential election in Zimbabwe.
The Group of Eight ministers, closing a two-day meeting in Kyoto, said they were deeply concerned by the situation in the African nation.
"We deplore the actions of the Zimbabwean authorities - systematic violence, obstruction and intimidation - which have made a free and fair presidential runoff election impossible," they said in a joint statement.
The United States took an even stronger position.
Secretary of state Condoleezza Rice called the run-off a "sham" that "could not possibly produce a legitimate outcome".
She added that the US would raise possible sanctions with other members of the UN Security Council.
"Zimbabwe should know that there are those in the international community who believe that the Security Council should consider sanctions," she said.
"There was a strong, strong sense in that room today that what is going on in Zimbabwe today is simply unacceptable in the 21st Century and cannot be ignored by the international community."
In the joint statement, the G8 ministers said results of elections on March 29 must be respected.
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Foreign ministers from the world's wealthiest nations said today they would not recognise the outcome of the run-off presidential election in Zimbabwe.
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