AFP
The 15-member UN Security Council was also due to hold a closed-door meeting on Zimbabwe as Rice, Bush and other leaders step up the pressure for Mugabe to step aside.
The United States blames Mugabe for Zimbabwe's political deadlock, economic meltdown and humanitarian crisis, including a deadly cholera outbreak.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Washington has been talking to Zimbabwe's powerful neighbor South Africa and other Security Council members about how to "start a process that will bring an end to the tragedy that is unfolding in Zimbabwe."
Countries with leverage should use it to press for change in Zimbabwe, McCormack said.
A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, proposed Thursday that Zimbabwe's neighbors, particularly South Africa, close their borders with the country.
The United States blames Mugabe for Zimbabwe's political deadlock, economic meltdown and humanitarian crisis, including a deadly cholera outbreak.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Washington has been talking to Zimbabwe's powerful neighbor South Africa and other Security Council members about how to "start a process that will bring an end to the tragedy that is unfolding in Zimbabwe."
Countries with leverage should use it to press for change in Zimbabwe, McCormack said.
A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, proposed Thursday that Zimbabwe's neighbors, particularly South Africa, close their borders with the country.
Zimbabwean authorities on Monday vowed to block any efforts by Britain and the United States to put the country on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council.
"You do not convene a UN Security Council meeting for a sovereign state without consulting that country," Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu was quoted as saying by the state-owned Herald newspaper.
"We are not a threat. If they insist, we will work hard to block it with the assistance of our friends," he said.
"You do not convene a UN Security Council meeting for a sovereign state without consulting that country," Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu was quoted as saying by the state-owned Herald newspaper.
"We are not a threat. If they insist, we will work hard to block it with the assistance of our friends," he said.
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