Rice says U.S. to put Zimbabwe on U.N. agenda

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Violence and intimidation threaten Zimbabwe's run-off presidential election and the United States intends to bring the matter before the U.N. Security Council next week, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a radio interview on Saturday.

"This is a very serious matter and the United States does intend to put it on the agenda of the Security Council next week," Rice told National Public Radio's Weekend Edition.

The southern African country will hold a run-off presidential election on June 27 between veteran President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Official results showed Tsvangirai won a first round in March, but did not secure enough votes for an outright victory.

The opposition party, Western nations and human rights groups accuse Mugabe's supporters of waging a campaign of intimidation ahead of the vote. Mugabe rejects the allegation.

Echoing comments she made at the United Nations on Thursday, Rice said the elections would not be unbiased.

"When you have the president of Zimbabwe saying that he'll never accept an outcome in which the other side wins, or when you have the so-called war veterans intimidating people and accusing opposition leaders of treason, it's kind of hard to see how that's going to be a free and fair election," Rice said.

The United States, which is this month's president of the Security Council, has accused Mugabe of turning Zimbabwe into a failed state that threatens its residents and the stability of southern Africa.

When asked whether she thought the United Nations was prepared to go beyond passing a resolution on Zimbabwe, Rice said, "We believe that unless the Security Council acts, it stands to lose credibility."

Earlier this week, diplomats said the council was unlikely to take any action next week due to opposition from South Africa, Russia and China.