White House urges against sending arms to Zimbabwe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Monday urged against sending arms to Zimbabwe where a disputed presidential election has provoked a tense standoff and raised fears of bloodshed.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino did not mention any country by name but said: "We urge anyone who is thinking about sending arms to the region to rethink that, so that we can try to solve this peacefully."

Earlier this month, states in the region had refused to allow a Chinese ship to unload arms destined for Zimbabwe.

A delay in issuing the result of the presidential election had raised fears of bloodshed in a country already suffering an economic collapse.

The results of the March 29 election were to be released on Tuesday, a month after the vote.

The delay had led to a tense standoff that drew opposition accusations that President Robert Mugabe was trying to rig the outcome to keep his 28-year hold on power.

Analysts say a win for Mugabe, whose ruling party lost control of parliament in the election, would deepen the economic collapse in the once prosperous country.

Zimbabwe has been hit with severe shortages in food, fuel and foreign currency, and the world's highest inflation rate.

"We remain very concerned about the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe, especially when you see reports of people being persecuted for expressing their political views," Perino said.

(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)