UNITED NATIONS—The U.N. Security Council unanimously agreed to take its first formal action on Zimbabwe on Monday by declaring a free and fair presidential election run-off was impossible because of violence.
The council, including South Africa, China and Russia that had previously long opposed discussion on Zimbabwe, reached its decision hours after the Netherlands said Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had taken refuge in its Harare embassy.
"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 15-nation body said in its non-binding statement.
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, U.N. 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 Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said it was still planning a poll on Friday. "We don't have a war. We will be able to hold credible elections," said commission chairman George Chiweshe.
Dutch Stance
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.
Zimbabwean police commissioner-general Augustine Chihuri said the police had been "shocked and surprised" by Tsvangirai's decision to seek refuge in the Dutch embassy.
"It is obviously a calculated move to besmirch the presidential run-off election ... and further brutalise the image of Zimbabwe," Chihuri told a news conference in Harare.
"We wonder from whom Mr Tsvangirai is running away or hiding," said Chihuri.
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.
Concern mounted both within and outside Africa over Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis, which has flooded neighbouring states with millions of refugees.
The African Union and Southern African Development Community were discussing the situation after Tsvangirai's pullout. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said even if the run-off went ahead it would not legitimise Mugabe's government.
Mugabe, 84, in power since independence in 1980, has vowed never to hand over to the opposition, branding MDC officials as puppets of the West.
He denies his supporters are responsible for the violence, which broke out after he and ZANU-PF lost the March 29 polls.
Mugabe has presided over a slide into economic chaos, including 80 percent unemployment and the world's highest inflation rate of at least 165,000 percent.
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