Russia and China Veto U.N. Sanctions on Zimbabwe

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Russia and China vetoed U.S.-proposed sanctions on Zimbabwe's leaders Friday, the global community's latest attempt to take concrete action against a regime widely criticized for a violent and one-sided presidential election.

Western powers mustered nine votes, the minimum needed to gain approval in the 15-nation council. But the resolution pushed by the Bush administration failed because of the action by two of the five veto-wielding permanent members.

The other three nations with veto power -- the U.S., Britain and France -- argued that sanctions were needed to respond to the government-backed violence and intimidation against opponents of President Robert Mugabe before and after Zimbabwe's recent presidential election.

According to a draft of the resolution, the measure would have instituted a travel ban on Mugabe and others in his government, frozen many of their assets and imposed an international arms embargo on the regime.

With their votes, ambassadors for China and Russia said they wanted to give the rival political parties a chance to resolve the election matter on their own terms without undue interference from the Security Council.

Zimbabwe has become a matter of increasing international concern, as violence increased after disputed presidential elections.

The leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai, won the first round of Zimbabwe's presidential elections on 29 March, but official results gave him less than the 50% share needed to avoid a run-off.

He pulled out of the run-off poll after many of his supporters were targeted, assaulted and even killed, leaving Mr Mugabe to win unopposed in the second round at the end of June.

Since March, the opposition says 113 of its supporters have been killed, some 5,000 are missing and more than 200,000 have been forced from their homes.