UN pulls out of Zimbabwe poll

President Robert Mugabe is under fire from Amnesty International

The United Nations says it will no longer take part in the monitoring of the forthcoming general elections in Zimbabwe.

The announcement follows a disagreement between the UN and the Zimbabwe Government, with the UN saying that Harare has tried to force it accept a lesser role in monitoring the poll.

The UN had earlier reached an agreement with the government that they would be "a facilitator" for all international observer groups.

The head of the UN office in Zimbabwe, Carlos Lopez, said that the Zimbawean Government now wanted the UN just to be one among several other observer missions.

If we are not doing the co-ordination, there is no point in our being there

UN spokesman Fred Eckhard

The UN has made clear it is not prepared to accept a diminished role.

UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said there was no time to consider complying with the new request from Harare.

"We had offered to help with the co-ordination of international electoral observers," Mr Eckhard said.

"The secretary general had understood from his conversations with President Mugabe that this was acceptable to the government of Zimbabwe."

"If we are not doing the co-ordination, there is no point in our being there," he added.

Mr Mugabe told supporters he needed a mandate in his dispute with the UK

The disagreement comes a week after the UN cancelled a visit by a top official after Zimabwe said it would seize 804 white-owned farms without compensation.

Observers from the European Union, the Southern African Development Community and the Commonwealth are among some 16,000 local and foreign experts monitoring the run-up to parliamentary elections on 24-25 June.

Other missions stay

For the moment there does not appear to be any question of the other observer missions pulling out

Correspondents say the UN's decision has dealt another blow to what appears to be a faltering election process in Zimbabwe.

Opposition says government is using the land issue to shore up its flagging support

On Thurdsay, the human rights group Amnesty Internation accused the Zimbabwean Government of "state-sponsored terrorism" against opponents of President Robert Mugabe.

The groups said planned acts of intimidation and violence by ruling party supporters against the opposition called into doubt the possible free and fair nature of the forthcoming poll.

The BBC correspondent in Harare John Leyne, says that opposition parties in Zimbabwe have banked on the observer missions being in place to try to ensure that the poll will be free and fair.