Washington  - The United States on Friday directly challenged wavering countries to vote in favour of United Nations sanctions on Zimbabwe in response to the African nation's heavily disputed elections held last month.

With a vote in the UN Security Council possibly coming later Friday, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said any country opposing the resolution "will be on the wrong side of history."

"I don't see how anybody, anybody, any country in good conscience can vote against this resolution after witnessing what has gone in Zimbabwe," McCormack said.

Pushed by the US, Britain and France, the council is considering imposing an arms embargo on Zimbabwe and travel bans against President Robert Mugabe and 13 other high-ranking officials in the country.

South Africa, Vietnam, China and Russia have resisted UN sanctions, arguing it is not the council's place to get involved.

Mugabe won a runoff election on June 27 after his opponent Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from the race, fearing for the safety of supporters who had been subjected to violent repression in the run- up to the vote.

The United States, Europe and some African countries have rejected the election results. (dpa)