US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in Jerusalem, 30 Mar 2008

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the government of President Robert Mugabe is a "disgrace" to the people of Zimbabwe, and to Africa as a whole.

Rice spoke to reporters in Jerusalem Sunday, one day after Zimbabwe held general elections.

The secretary repeated U.S. concerns about the fairness of the elections, saying Mr. Mugabe has "very bad record" in that area.

Before the vote, the United States, Britain and other countries expressed doubts that the election would be free and fair.

Mr. Mugabe's government barred the United States and other Western countries from sending election observers.

But the United States said Saturday that it was monitoring the elections using 10 staff members of the U.S. embassy in Harare.

U.S. officials have repeatedly criticized Mr. Mugabe over human rights and his handling of Zimbabwe's devastated economy. Mr. Mugabe regularly accuses United States and Britain of trying to undermine his government.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.