JOHANNESBURG: The US envoy for Africa threatened Zimbabwe with UN sanctions in an interview with the BBC released on Sunday if the post-election crisis in the southern African nation is not resolved.

If the dispute does not change “we should contemplate multilateral sanctions through the UN,” US Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer was quoted as saying in the interview published on the BBC website.

The UN Security Council will discuss the Zimbabwe crisis on Tuesday, with permanent members Britain and the United States racheting up the pressure on President Robert Mugabe.

Frazer earlier called for an end to the violence in Zimbabwe and said opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai should head up any new government, dismissing the prospect of a second round of the presidential election.

Frazer has been on a tour of the region, which began in South Africa, to put pressure on Mugabe to step down. She has met with South African officials and the presidents of Angola and Zambia.—AFP