HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who has pulled out of a presidential election because of attacks on his supporters, has taken refuge in the Dutch embassy, Dutch officials said on Monday.
There was no immediate confirmation from Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change. The Dutch foreign ministry said Tsvangirai had not requested asylum but had spent the night in the embassy and was welcome to stay for his own security.
Earlier the MDC said police raided its Harare headquarters and took away more than 60 victims of the violence, in which it says nearly 90 of its supporters have been killed by militias backing President Robert Mugabe. Those detained included women and children.
Tsvangirai, who pulled out of the June 27 vote on Sunday saying his supporters would risk their lives if they voted, said on Monday he was ready to negotiate with Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, but only if the violence stopped.
He pressed regional leaders to push for a postponement of the vote or for Mugabe to step down. But the government said Tsvangirai's withdrawal came too late to call off the election.
Concern mounted both within and outside Africa over Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis, which has flooded neighbouring states with millions of refugees. Both the African Union and Southern African Development Community (SADC) were discussing the situation following Tsvangirai's pullout.
Former colonial power Britain said Mugabe must be declared an illegitimate leader and sanctions should be stiffened against his inner circle, which Prime Minister Gordon Brown called "a criminal and discredited cabal."
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said even if the run-off went ahead it would not legitimise Mugabe's government.
Several foreign governments have urged a unity government to end Zimbabwe's dire crisis but this has previously been rejected by both sides. Analysts said the withdrawal by Tsvangirai was likely to delay any solution of this kind.
Mugabe, 84, who has been in power since independence from Britain in 1980, has vowed never to hand over to the opposition, branding them puppets of the West.
Mugabe denies his supporters are responsible for the violence, which broke out after he and ZANU-PF lost elections on March 29. Tsvangirai fell short of an absolute majority in the presidential vote, forcing next Friday's run-off.
The former guerrilla commander 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.
The African Union's top diplomat said he was consulting with AU Chairman Jakaya Kikwete, the Tanzanian President, with SADC and with South African President Thabo Mbeki -- the region's designated mediator on Zimbabwe -- to see what could be done following Tsvangirai's withdrawal.
Jean Ping said the withdrawal and the political violence were "a matter of grave concern to the Commission of the AU."
Angola's foreign ministry said SADC foreign ministers were meeting in Luanda to discuss the Zimbabwe crisis and might issue a statement later in the day.
Foreign Minister Joao Bernardo de Miranda was quoted by the state-run news agency ANGOP as calling the Zimbabwe situation extremely serious and saying SADC would only withdraw election monitors when Tsvangirai formally abandoned the race.
Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, the current SADC chairman, said on Sunday the run-off must be postponed "to avert a catastrophe in this region."
Zambian Foreign Minister Kabinga Pande told Reuters a SADC security troika of Angola, Swaziland and Tanzania would propose the next move by the regional body.
The Dutch government, a major aid donor to Zimbabwe, called on the United Nations, the European Union, the AU and neighbouring states to discuss new steps against Mugabe.
Former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, who mediated an end to Kenya's post election crisis earlier this year, said any election or declaration of a winner would be neither credible nor acceptable and the victor would have no legitimacy.
But the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said it was still looking forward to elections on Friday. "We don't have a war. We will be able to hold credible elections," ZEC chairman George Chiweshe said.
The currency in neighbouring regional powerhouse South Africa weakened to a one-week low on Monday and dealers said the deteriorating Zimbabwe situation had contributed to other factors weakening the rand.
Renaissance Capital investment bank said Zimbabwe risked total economic collapse with the real inflation rate now running at around 5 million percent.
