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United Nations: The UN Security Council unanimously declared on Monday that a free and fair run-off election was "impossible" in Zimbabwe because of violence and restrictions on the opposition.
The adoption of the nonbinding statement by the 15-nation Security Council, which includes South Africa, China and Russia, was its first formal action on the crisis in the southern African country.
The statement read, "The Security Council regrets that the campaign of violence and the restrictions on the political opposition have made it impossible for a free and fair election to take place on June 27."
The council's statement was watered down from an earlier version, which explicitly blamed President Robert Mugabe's government for the crisis and said Tsvangirai would be the legitimate leader if a credible run-off vote could not be held.
But the final version said the council "notes that the results of the (March 29 elections) must be respected." Tsvangirai won that first-round, though the government said his narrow victory meant a run-off was necessary.
In his strongest comments on Zimbabwe, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters, "There has been too much violence and too much intimidation. A vote held in these conditions would lack all legitimacy."
The Dutch Foreign Ministry said Tsvangirai had not requested asylum but had spent Sunday night in the embassy and was welcome to stay for his own security. He said earlier this year there was a plot by the Mugabe government to kill him.
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said police raided its Harare headquarters and took away more than 60 victims of the violence sheltering there, including women and children. The MDC says nearly 90 of its supporters have been killed by militias backing Mugabe.
Announcing his withdrawal on Sunday, Tsvangirai said his supporters would have been risking their lives if they had voted but that he was ready to negotiate with Mugabe's Zanu-PF party if the violence stopped.
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