US to discuss Zimbabwe sanctions at UN, says Rice

Kyoto, Japan: The United States will bring up the issue of further sanctions against Zimbabwe in the United Nations Security Council, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday.

Rice said after a gathering of Group of Eight foreign ministers in Kyoto that there were those in the international community who thought the Security Council should take up sanctions against Zimbabwe.

"We intend to bring up the issue of Zimbabwe in the council and we will see what the council decides to do," she said.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe defied international calls to abandon a one-sided run-off election on Friday.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who beat Mugabe in the first round of voting in March, withdrew from the run-off over violence and intimidation against his supporters.