Washington  - US President George W Bush Wednesday hosted the ambassadors from the five countries permanently on the UN Security Council to discuss Zimbabwe's political crisis.

The United States has urged the rest of the world to place pressure on President Robert Mugabe's government for using violence to intimidate voters ahead of Friday's run-off election.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the United States does not regard Mugabe's government as legitimate after the violent crackdown that forced his opponent to withdraw from the election.

"The pressure on the Mugabe regime is getting tighter," Perino said, referring to a statement from the Security Council on Monday and comments by other African leaders.

"What's so tragic is that Mugabe doesn't appear to care," she added. "And he doesn't care about the safety of the individuals there who - regardless of whether they even voted or not - they just absolutely sent out terror squads and killed people."

The Security Council has condemned the political violence. Bush was meeting Wednesday with the ambassadors to the UN from Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. They had earlier attended a meeting at the State Department.

After Mugabe barely survived the first vote March 29, forcing a run-off campaign, his government launched a crackdown against opponent Morgan Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change party.

Tsvangirai was occasionally detained and his supporters beaten. Some were killed. Citing the violence and threats to his own life and those of his supporters, Tsvangirai announced Sunday he was withdrawing from the race.

The government still plans to hold the vote.

Tsvangirai has fled to the Dutch embassy in Harare for protection. (dpa)