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UNITED NATIONS - A divided UN Security Council will resume talks Monday on the deadly political violence in Zimbabwe ahead of the upcoming presidential runoff election, diplomats said Friday.
The 15-member body was to meet early Monday to discuss modalities of a formal meeting planned for later that day on the outcome of UN troubleshooter Haile Menkerios' mediation mission to Harare, they added.
One diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the council was divided on whether to hold an open or closed-door debate on the issue.
UN officials said Under Secretary General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe was to brief the council Monday on Menkerios' five-day visit to Harare.
Menkerios, an UN assistant secretary general for political affairs, met with South African President Thabo Mbeki in Pretoria Friday following his visit to Zimbabwe.
"It appears that he (Menkerios) will remain in the area for some additional days," UN spokeswoman Michele Montas told reporters Friday.
In late March, Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai beat President Robert Mugabe in the first round of the presidential election, but election officials said he fell short of an outright majority and must face Mugabe in the June 27 run-off.
During his Harare visit, Menkerios met with a broad section of Zimbabwean society, including Mugabe and Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Menkerios was sent to Zimbabwe by UN chief Ban Ki-moon in a bid to ease political tensions ahead of next week's balloting amid a wave of deadly violence targeting the opposition.
According to media reports, Mbeki was reported to be trying to arrange a first-ever meeting between Mugabe and Tsvangirai that would allow for talks on canceling the June 27 balloting with a view to forming a national unity government.
On Friday, Mugabe said that "only God" could remove him from office, as his opposition considered pulling out of next week's election.
"The MDC will never be allowed to rule this country -- never ever," Mugabe told local business people in Zimbabwe's second city Bulawayo.
Mugabe -- in power since independence from Britain in 1980 -- has frequently accused Tsvangirai of being a stooge of the former colonial power.
The MDC plans to meet Sunday to consider whether to contest the runoff, with the party claiming that around 70 of its supporters have been killed since the first round of voting on March 29.
At an informal meeting Thursday with Security Council members, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called for "broader and stronger international action" to stop the violence and ensure a free and fair election in Zimbabwe.
Rice's spokesman Sean McCormack on Friday said the United States supported Mbeki's efforts to negotiate a political solution in Zimbabwe, and did not rule out a national unity government as a possible outcome. - AFP/vm
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