The United Nations Security Council has condemned Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's "campaign of violence" against opposition activists, and says it's impossible to hold a fair election in the country.
All 15 members said the council firmly opposes the government's attempts to intimidate political foes "ahead of the second round of presidential elections."
The non-binding statement marks the first time the council has formally taken action on Zimbabwe's current political crisis.
United States Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, this month's council president, went further in his condemnation of Mugabe, but only spoke on behalf of his own country.
"The result of the (Mugabe) government policies is the economy is in shambles; millions need help to survive; and now the government is criminally, in my view, is impeding assistance to those who are in need," he said.
Earlier Monday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Zimbabwe's scheduled presidential election runoff should be postponed given the violence and intimidation that Mugabe has unleashed.
"There has been too much violence, too much intimidation," Ban said in a statement issued by his spokesperson.
"A vote held in these conditions would lack all legitimacy."
Ban said that he will work with the Southern African Development Community and the African Union "to get the parties talking in order to avoid an even greater tragedy in Zimbabwe."
UN envoy Haile Menkerios is in the country ready to help with mediation efforts, according to the statement.
In the wake of Zimbabwe's political strife, member countries of both the UN and the European Union are calling for sanctions against the country's ruling party.
"We will seek to impose travel and financial sanctions on those in the inner circle of the criminal cabal running the regime," said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change is reported to have withdrawn from the runoff, which is scheduled for Friday.
Tsvangirai has fled Zimbabwe and spent Sunday night in the Dutch embassy in Harare. The Dutch foreign ministry said Monday that Tsvangirai didn't seek asylum, but he was welcome to stay to ensure his own security.
Earlier, police raided opposition party headquarters in Harare. They took away people, computers and furniture as political turmoil continues in the troubled country.
"The Mugabe regime cannot be considered legitimate in the absence of a run-off," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday in a statement. "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."
A senior official in the MDC told The Associated Press on Monday that the party isn't completely ruling out participating in elections.
Roy Bennett, the MDC's treasurer, also called on political bodies such as the SADC and the African Union to start negotiations between the opposition and moderate elements within the ZANU-PF, the party of President Robert Mugabe.
"We honestly believe that we will move forward to a new round" of elections, Bennett said.
However, he said Mugabe, who has ruled the country since its independence from Britain, must go.
"He's ruled for 28 years. It's time he passed the baton on to someone else," Bennett said. "Even in a transitional government we don't see any role for him at all."
Mugabe, who placed second to Tsvangirai in the March 29 vote, has refused to give up power. He has branded the MDC as puppets of Britain and the United States.
Innocent Madawo of The Southern African online newspaper told Canada AM that Mugabe's intransigence and the mounting violence gave Tsvangirai no choice but to withdraw.
"If he'd gone through with the election, the result would have been the same. Mugabe said he won't give up power, so why bother?" he said.
South African President Thabo Mbeki said he hopes Mugabe would respond to the international community's efforts to mediate an end to the conflict.
"I would hope that that leadership would still be open to a process which would result in them coming to some agreement about what happens to their country," Mbeki said.
Part of the problem is Mugabe is trapped in the conflicts of the colonial past while Zimbabwe must look forward, he said.
Once the breadbasket of southern Africa, Zimbabwe now suffers from food shortages, rampant inflation and sky-high unemployment.
Mugabe had once been regarded as a Third World hero for his role in ending white minority rule in Zimbabwe, formerly known as Rhodesia, but has used increasingly despotic means to hold onto power.
With files from The Associated Press and a report from CTV's Tom Kennedy
