THE UN warned yesterday post-election violence in Zimbabwe was rising to near crisis levels ahead of a planned presidential run-off, with opposition supporters bearing the brunt of attacks.

The UN warned today that post-election violence in Zimbabwe risked reaching a crisis as police stopped a convoy of ambassadors on a tour to investigate attacks on opposition supporters.

AN AUDIO recording in which al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden says convicted September 11 plotter Zacarias Moussaoui played no role in the attacks is authentic, a US intelligence official said yesterday.

Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person convicted in the United States for the 9/11 terror massacre attacks, had nothing to do with the operation, according to an audiotape by Osama bin Laden released on the Internet tonight and monitored in Cairo.

PROSECUTORS in Zacarias Moussaoui’s death penalty trial in Alexandria, Virginia, yesterday sought to unravel his claims that he knew nothing of the September 11, 2001, attacks, arguing that al-Qaida members are carefully trained to lie when caught.