The United States, Britain and France have expressed their growing concern about the failure of Zimbabwe's election commission to release the results of the March 29 presidential election. The comments were made at a high-level meeting of the U.N. Security Council and African Union leaders in New York, where the disputed election threatened to overshadow other crises on the African continent. From U.N. headquarters in New York, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown led off the criticism, saying no one believes that Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe won the vote.

"No one thinks having seen the results at polling stations that President Mugabe has won this election. A stolen election would not be a democratic election at all. As the Secretary-General [Ban Ki-moon] has said, the credibility of the democratic process depends on there being a legitimate government," he said.

Mr. Brown told the high-level meeting that the credibility of the democratic process in Africa depends on the legitimacy of the government in Harare, and that the leaders gathered in New York must send a single, clear message that they stand behind democracy and human rights in Zimbabwe.

The United States U.N. Ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, said the Zimbabwean people overwhelmingly voted for change, and he expressed concern about post-election violence.

"We are gravely concerned about the escalating politically-motivated violence perpetrated by security forces and ruling party militias that target opposition supporters in rural areas. The government and its supporters must desist immediately from violence and intimidation, act with restraint, respect human rights, and allow the electoral process to continue unfettered," he said.

France's representative, Rama Yade, who is the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Human Rights, told the meeting that the people of Zimbabwe must not be deprived of their victory of democracy.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon repeated his call for the speedy release of election results.

"Absent a transparent solution to this impasse, the situation could deteriorate further with serious implications for the people of Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean authorities and the countries of the region have insisted that these matters are for the region to resolve but the international community continues to watch and wait for decisive action," he said.

The secretary-general added that if there is a second round of elections, they must be conducted in a fair and transparent manner and in the presence of international observers. He also welcomed the efforts of the Southern African Development Community to help resolve the crisis, and said the United Nations stands ready to assist the bloc.

The situation in Zimbabwe was conspicuously absent from the remarks of the African representatives at the meeting.

South Africa, which holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council this month, has resisted the idea of taking up the matter in the council, because it says it is being dealt with by the Southern African Development Community.