Calls for international intervention to defuse Zimbabwe's post-election crisis mounted on Tuesday as the US urged China to call back a ship loaded with weapons for President Robert Mugabe's regime.

As church leaders in the troubled southern African nation warned rising violence could reach genocidal levels, the government in Beijing defended its sales of arms but hinted the cargo might not be delivered.

UN chief Ban Ki-Moon meanwhile described the continued delay in announcing results for the 29 March presidential election as unacceptable while Australia called an ongoing recount a ploy by Mugabe to steal victory.

Reports of violence have been steadily increasing since polling day with the opposition claiming 10 of its followers have been killed by pro-Mugabe militias and thousands have been forced to flee their homes.

Fears of genocide

In a joint statement, signed by the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference and the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, church leaders all called for outside help to end the unrest.

"Organised violence perpetrated against individuals, families and communities who are accused of campaigning or voting for the 'wrong' political party ... has been unleashed throughout the country," the statement said.

"We warn the world that if nothing is done to help the people of Zimbabwe from their predicament, we shall soon be witnessing genocide similar to that experienced in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and other hot spots in Africa."

It urged the Southern African Development Community (Sadc), the African Union and the United Nations to work towards "arresting" the deteriorating political and security situation.

Sadc under fire

The 14-nation Sadc and the African Union have both come under fire for their muted response so far to the crisis.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who appealed for UN intervention on Monday when he met Ban, has grown so frustrated with the Sadc that he has called for its pointman on Zimbabwe, South African President Thabo Mbeki, to be axed as a mediator.

In comments to reporters on Tuesday, Ban said: "It is unacceptable that the results of the presidential election in Zimbabwe are not being officially announced even three weeks after the election."

Mugabe's regime insists other countries stay out of its internal affairs and has dismissed talk of genocide by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change as "lies".

Zimbabwe's 'sovereign right'

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa also defended Zimbabwe's "sovereign right" to buy arms amid the ongoing row over the Chinese ship, the An Yue Jiang, which is understood to be carrying millions of rounds of AK-47 ammunition and 1500 rocket-propelled grenades ordered by Mugabe.

An attempt to offload the cargo in the South African port of Durban had to be abandoned last Friday when activists won a court order effectively preventing the cargo being transported over land to the Zimbabwe border.

There were signs that China — already under fire over its supply of weaponry to Sudan for use in Darfur — was getting ready to scrap the delivery.

"As Zimbabwe could not receive the cargo as scheduled, China Ocean Shipping Corp had to give up the Durban port and is now considering carrying back this cargo," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said.

In Washington, State Department spokesperson Tom Casey said the Bush administration had asked Beijing "to refrain from making additional shipments and, if possible, to bring this one back."

US envoy to tour region

A US embassy spokesperson in Pretoria said the top US envoy for Africa, Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer, was due to begin a tour of the region from Wednesday.

Zimbabwe meanwhile indefinitely postponed an annual summit of Africa's largest trading bloc that it was to host next month due to the electoral uncertainty in the country, state radio reported on Tuesday.

The two-week summit of the 19-nation Common Market for Eastern and Southern African (Comesa) had been scheduled to run between 1 and 15 May in the northwestern resort of Victoria Falls.

"The postponement follows the realisation that the original summit dates might coincide with the country's yet uncompleted electoral process," state radio cited a foreign affairs ministry statement as saying.

The statement said a new date for the summit would be announced later.

AFP