Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai seeks refuge in Dutch Embassy

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai sought refuge in the Dutch Embassy here just hours after he pulled out of the presidential runoff election scheduled for Friday, citing rising violence by supporters of longtime President Robert Mugabe.

The Zimbabwe ruling party crackdown continued unabated today, with 60 opposition activists arrested by riot police in a lunchtime raid at the opposition headquarters. Curfews and door-to-door searches also continued in suburbs of Harare, the capital. Many of those arrested at the Movement for Democratic Change headquarters were injured in recent outbreaks of political violence and had been sleeping at the office for their safety.

There was no official comment from the MDC on Tsvangirai’s decision to seek refuge on Sunday evening at the Dutch Embassy. Some senior MDC officials were taken by surprise by the move.

There were no details about the security threat that led Tsvangirai to seek refuge, but MDC officials said the ruling party’s anger over the opposition leader’s withdrawal from the vote had heightened security concerns.

Dutch officials told the Associated Press that Tsvangirai had sought temporary political refuge, not political asylum.

Leaders across the world expressed concern today over the violence that led to Tsvangirai’s move to pull out of the election, while ruling party officials held crisis meetings to decide how to handle the surprise move.

At the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon took an unusually strong stand, calling for the postponement of elections and insisting that the issue should be debated by the Security Council, rather than be treated as an internal matter for Zimbabwe, as South Africa and some council members have advocated.

“What happens in Zimbabwe has importance well beyond that country’s borders,” Ban told reporters. “The situation in Zimbabwe represents the single greatest challenge to regional stability in southern Africa today.”

The Security Council is expected to condemn the violence and intimidation in a meeting this afternoon. Britain is pushing to have the council declare that in the absence of a free and fair runoff election, the country should accept results of the May 29 presidential balloting, in which the nation’s election commission ruled that Tsvangirai received the most votes but not an absolute majority. South Africa and others are likely to block any action beyond a statement, diplomats said.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice condemned the attacks by Mugabe supporters that she said necessitated Tsvangirai’s pullout.

“Yet another vicious assault on the opposition and its supporters for exercising their right to assemble and their right to free speech has reinforced that it is impossible for there to be a free, fair or peaceful election in Zimbabwe on June 27,” Rice said in a statement. “The Mugabe regime cannot be considered legitimate in the absence of a runoff. In forsaking the most basic tenet of governance, the protection of its people, the government of Zimbabwe must be held accountable by the international community.” African Union Chief Executive Jean Ping expressed “grave concern” about the violence in Zimbabwe and Tsvangirai’s pullout.

Britain’s minister for Africa and Asia, Mark Malloch-Brown, said Mugabe had lost legitimacy, calling for tougher sanctions against Zimbabwe.

Ruling party officials today told The Times that they feared that the opposition election boycott would fuel pressure on the regime and lead to tougher international sanctions.

A witness to today’s police raid on the opposition headquarters, MDC official Fortune Gwaze, said 1,300 activists had been staying there, all victims and refugees from violence by ruling party supporters. Most had left the building because of a tipoff about the raid the previous night.

Tsvangirai is obliged to inform the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission in writing that he is withdrawing from the race. Ruling party officials said that if that happened, the commission would probably declare Mugabe the winner, canceling the second round. But until there is a formal announcement, the party is planning to press ahead with campaigning and the commission has said the vote would still be held Friday.

Times staff writer Maggie Farley at the United Nations contributed to this report.