Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has praised the UN statement condemning the campaign of political violence and intimidation by militias loyal to President Robert Mugabe.
Mr Tsvangirai was speaking to radio in The Netherlands from the Dutch embassy in Harare, where he took refuge on Sunday after pulling out of Friday's run-off presidential election.
He said President Mugabe could no longer ignore the growing pressure from the international community.
Mr Tsvangirai also said he would leave the embassy in the next 48 hours after the Dutch ambassador received assurances from the Zimbabwe authorities about his safety.
Zimbabwean police commissioner-general Augustine Chihuri earlier said the police had been 'shocked and surprised' by Mr Tsvangirai's decision to seek refuge.
'It is obviously a calculated move to besmirch the presidential run-off election...and further brutalise the image of Zimbabwe,' Mr Chihuri told a news conference. 'We wonder from whom Mr Tsvangirai is running away or hiding.'
When he announced his withdrawal on Sunday, Mr Tsvangirai said his supporters would have been risking their lives if they had voted but that he was ready to negotiate with Mr Mugabe's ZANU-PF party if the violence stopped.
Free vote 'impossible' - UNSC
Last night, the UN Security Council unanimously agreed to condemn violence in Zimbabwe.
A resolution adopted by the 15-member council declared that a free and fair run-off election was 'impossible' because of the violence and restrictions on the opposition.
The UNSC includes South Africa, China and Russia, which had previously long opposed discussion on Zimbabwe.
Its ruling echoed mounting international concern over Zimbabwe's political turmoil and economic meltdown, blamed by the West and the opposition on 84-year-old Mr Mugabe, who has held power for 28 years.
Mr Mugabe's government said the election would still go ahead on Friday and the Zimbabwean leader repeated accusations that former colonial power Britain and other Western countries were lying about the violence because they wanted to interfere.
'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 27 June,' the UNSC said in its non-binding statement.
The council's statement was watered down from an earlier British-drafted version, which explicitly blamed Mr Mugabe's government for the crisis and said Mr 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 (29 March elections) must be respected'. Mr Tsvangirai won that first-round, though the government said his narrow victory meant a run-off was necessary.
South Africa, an advocate of 'quiet diplomacy' with Mr Mugabe, said it was 'very pleased' with the statement because it 'assists us in the mediation'. Pretoria has resisted calls to use its powerful economic leverage over landlocked Zimbabwe.
The British Ambassador to the UN, Sir John Sawers, said it was an important step for the UNSC.
Election should be postponed - UN chief
Yesterday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the presidential election scheduled for Friday should be postponed.
In his strongest comments on Zimbabwe, Mr Ban told reporters: 'There has been too much violence and too much intimidation.' The opposition says nearly 90 of its supporters have been killed.
Rejecting the call, Zimbabwe's Ambassador to the UN, Boniface Chidyausiku, said Mr Ban's comments were inappropriate.
Mr Mugabe was quoted by state-controlled media as saying at a rally yesterday: 'Britain and her allies are telling a lot of lies about Zimbabwe, saying a lot of people are dying...They want to build a situation to justify their intervention.'
Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change said police raided its Harare offices and took away more than 60 victims of violence sheltering there, including women and children.
The political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe has sent millions of refugees flooding into neighbouring countries.
The African Union and Southern African Development Community were discussing the situation after Mr Tsvangirai's pullout. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said even if the run-off went ahead it would not legitimise Mr Mugabe's government.
Mr Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, has vowed never to hand over to the opposition, branding its 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 29 March polls.
Mr Mugabe has presided over a slide into economic chaos, including 80% unemployment and the world's highest inflation rate of at least 165,000%.
