The Zimbabwean government thanked Saturday the countries that blocked UN sanctions against Zimbabwe, and particularly South African President Thabo Mbeki for having refused to yield to Western pressure, the South African Press Association (SAPA) reported.
"We would like to thank countries that supported us at the United Nations and we would like to tell them that we would not disappoint them as we would address our problems ourselves," Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu was quoted as saying.
Russia and China vetoed a U.S.-drafted resolution in the UN Security Council on Friday that would impose sanctions on Zimbabwe over the country's presidential run-off election in late June.
South Africa, which is mediating Zimbabwe's political crisis, Libya and Vietnam also voted against the draft while Indonesia abstained.
Voting with the United States were Britain, France, Belgium, Italy, Panama, Bukina Faso, Croatia and Costa Rica.
The failed text calls for a travel ban and an assets freeze on President Robert Mugabe and his top officials, as well as an arms embargo.
Opponents of the resolution argued that sanctions would undermine the mediation efforts of the African Union and the Southern African Development Community and endanger the negotiation process between the Zimbabwean government and the opposition.
They also said that the Zimbabwean issue arises from an internal dispute and therefore does not fit into the purview of the Security Council, which, as authorized by the UN Charter, should deal with threats to regional or international peace and security.
Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the first round of presidential election but did not obtained an absolute majority to avoid a run-off, which Tsvangirai later decided not to take part in, citing violence against his supporters.
Mugabe was sworn in for a new presidential term after the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission declared that he was the winner of the June 27 vote with an overwhelming majority.
Immediately after the disputed vote, the Security Council passed a nonbinding statement saying that the conditions for free and fair elections did not exist.
With the help of the AU and SADC, the Zimbabwean government and opposition officials met for the first time in South Africa on Thursday to try to find a way out of their country's political crisis.
Source:Xinhua
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