NZ and Australia lobby UN on Mugabe

CANBERRA - New Zealand and Australia are to lobby the United Nations Security Council to indict Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his government for crimes against humanity.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Mr Downer said yesterday because Zimbabwe was not a party to the International Criminal Court Mr Mugabe could only be indicted with a reference from the UN Security Council.

"I very much hold the view that as a country which is party to the International Criminal Court and bearing in mind the simply horrific things that have happened in Zimbabwe ... that it's worth a try to get an indictment," Mr Downer told ABC television.

Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff said in July after a meeting with Mr Downer that the two countries would seek support to use the court.

"The continued failure of the Zimbabwean government to respect democracy and human rights needs to be addressed firmly by the international community," the pair said in a joint statement at the time.

New Zealand cricket side the Black Caps are in Zimbabwe on a controversial tour including two tests and a triangular one-day tournament with India.

The tour went ahead, despite efforts by the New Zealand Government to have it called off and an overwhelming resolution in Parliament calling on NZ Cricket to abandon the tour due to human rights abuses.

Mr Mugabe has led a drive to confiscate white-owned farms and hand them over to the majority black population.

He has said this is necessary to right the wrongs of colonialism, which left the bulk of Zimbabwe's fertile land in the hands of whites.

More recently his government has cracked down on what it calls illegal settlements in a move that rights groups say has left up to 300,000 homeless. The official figure is 120,000.

Mr Downer said getting a resolution to indict Mr Mugabe through the Security Council would be difficult.

"We've started a process of talking with some of the members of the Security Council ... I think it's best to describe the response as cautious," Mr Downer said.

"I think the US position, the British position and the French position is one of wanting a bit more time to consider this issue. Nobody has given a commitment yet to take this forward ... I know it's going to be very difficult."

In 2002 Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth -- a group of 53 mostly former British colonies -- after Mr Mugabe was accused of rigging his re-election.

- REUTERS, NZPA