U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon holds a press conference at Accra Airport, following meeting with Morgan Tsvangirai, 21 Apr 2008

Zimbabwe's opposition leader has appealed to the U.N. secretary-general for the United Nations and the African Union to intervene in his country's post-election crisis.

Morgan Tsvangirai held talks with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for half an hour on the sidelines of a U.N. development conference in Ghana Monday.

In a statement to reporters following the meeting, the secretary-general told reporters he expressed his concern about the situation to Tsvangirai, and that he would be discussing the situation with leaders of the African Union.

Mr. Ban said he also will raise the situation with the international community once he returns to New York.

The secretary general once again urged Zimbabwean authorities to release results from the March 29 presidential election.

Earlier Monday, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband urged African leaders to do more to help resolve the crisis, saying that democratic legitimacy throughout Africa is at stake.

Miliband condemned a partial recount of Zimbabwe's March 29 elections as a charade of democracy, and he said no one can have any faith in the process.

Ballots from last month's vote are being recounted in 23 constituencies. The recount - which the opposition says is deeply flawed and illegal - could potentially overturn the results of the parliamentary elections that the opposition won.

A South African election observer today described the recount as fatally flawed. The observer, member of parliament Dianne Kohler-Barnard, cited evidence of ballot-box tampering and said she is concerned the ruling party is trying to rig the results.

The electoral commission still has not released results of the presidential vote, in which the opposition says Mr. Tsvangirai defeated Mr. Mugabe.

Independent monitors say Mr. Tsvangirai likely finished on top in the election, but may have fallen short of the majority needed to avoid a second round of voting.

Zimbabwe's opposition accuses the government of widespread violence against its opponents since the March 29 voting.