Washington - US President George W Bush on Saturday criticized the presidential election run-off in Zimbabwe, calling for sanctions and a weapons embargo against the government led by President Robert Mugabe.

In a declaration from the White House, Bush denounced the Zimbabwe presidential polls in which Mugabe was the sole candidate as a "sham election" and repudiated "the Mugabe regime's blatant disregard for the Zimbabwean people's democratic will and human rights."

Bush promised to take strong action through the United Nations as well as taking bilateral actions. (dpa)