Harare - The United Nations has pulled out of the electoral process in Zimbabwe in a dispute with the government over who controls international observers. The UN pulled out after the government reneged on an agreement letting the UN co-ordinate international observer groups ahead of polling, a senior EU official said.
Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, president of the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, (MDC), said UN Secretary General Mr Kofi Annan had taken the decision.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe President Mr Robert Mugabe's ruling party has dismissed a report by Amnesty International that the state is sponsoring terrorism against its opponents. Mr Jonathan Moyo, a member of ZANU-PF's campaign directorate, charged that the human rights group's report was designed to help the MDC and to demonise the government.