Australia is alarmed at the threat of civil war in Zimbabwe as President Robert Mugabe has vowed that his rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, will never rule.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called on African nations yesterday to rein in Mr Mugabe or risk his ''stealing'' the election.
He was reflecting growing international concern at Mr Mugabe's behaviour, widely characterised as thuggish, and inaction by his neighbours.
Zimbabwe has become a basket case under Mr Mugabe: its official inflation rate is well over 100,000 per cent.
Mr Tsvangirai was detained by police again at the weekend ahead of the presidential run-off election. His party, the Movement for Democratic Change, has warned of a campaign of intimidation leading up to the poll and claims that more than 60 of its supporters have been killed since the first round of voting on March 29.
Mr Mugabe has now vowed to go to war if necessary to keep his rival from taking power after the second-round ballot on June 27.
The Opposition's deputy leader, Tendai Biti, appeared in a Harare court on Saturday facing a treason charge, for which the maximum punishment is death.
He was arrested late last week on his return from a long stay in South Africa.
Mr Rudd, who has previously visited Zimbabwe, said he had seen how Mr Mugabe could manipulate elections.
''The international community does not want to see that again and it's important that the world community speak out with one voice on this important matter,'' he said.
''Our concern, and the concern of most countries around the world, is that Mr Mugabe will steal this election. Therefore, it's important for the ... community of nations, including the African Union and the Southern African Development Community, to speak with one voice about the importance of democracy and the will of the people prevailing in Zimbabwe.''
Earlier this year, Mr Rudd put his view for African-led action to South African President Thabo Mbeki who has special access to the Zimbabwean ruler.
Mr Mbeki was one of three Commonwealth leaders John Howard being one of the others appointed by the Commonwealth to mediate with Mr Mugabe after the 2002 elections. But the Commonwealth decided to suspend Zimbabwe from its council later that year.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Australia was increasingly concerned Mr Mugabe would not accept the election outcome. ''This is really the starkest he's said it,'' he said yesterday.
Mr Smith repeated his call for southern African nations to take action before Western countries could do so.
''We've seen since the first-round run-off a climate of intimidation, oppression, the arrest for the fifth time of Mr Tsvangirai
''This is just Mugabe making it clear he won't accept the will of the people. If Mugabe continues along these lines I'm quite happy for Australia to be looking at what further measures we can take.''
''But the problem ... is this: whenever the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia act and we act in advance of, or separately from, the African Union states, Mugabe seeks to use that in a domestic political way to get an advantage.
''So the primary responsibility in our view has to start with the Southern African Development Community and the African Union states and we urge them ... to start placing more pressure on the brutal Mugabe regime.''
The federal Opposition has called for an urgent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to be called to discuss the issue.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Andrew Robb said the grouping could influence the situation in Zimbabwe because one-third of its members were African nations.
''But there's not a lot of time left,'' he said.
Mr Robb also wants African leaders, including Mr Mbeki and his predecessor, Nelson Mandela, to urge Mr Mugabe to step aside, or, failing that, to urge him to allow the election to go ahead unimpeded.
''Other African leaders need to follow the lead of [former archbishop of Cape Town] Desmond Tutu and call for him to resign,'' he said.
- with AAP