The U.N. Security Council unanimously agreed to take its first formal action on Zimbabwe by condemning violence against the opposition and ruling that a free and fair presidential run-off was impossible.

The council - including South Africa, China and Russia, all previously long opposed to discussion on Zimbabwe - made its decision on Monday, hours after the Netherlands said opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had taken refuge in its Harare embassy.

Tsvangirai had not requested asylum but spent Sunday night in the embassy and was welcome to stay for his own security, said Dutch officials. The opposition leader withdrew from the run-off on Sunday saying he did not want further bloodshed.

The U.N. ruling echoed mounting international concern over Zimbabwe's political turmoil and economic meltdown, blamed by the West and the opposition on 84-year-old President Robert Mugabe, who has held power for 28 years.

"The Security Council condemns the campaign of violence against the political opposition ahead of the second round of the Presidential elections scheduled for 27 June, which has resulted in the killing of scores of opposition activists and other Zimbabweans and the beating and displacement of thousands of people, including many women and children," the 15-nation body said in its non-binding statement.

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 said the campaign of violence had made it impossible for a free and fair election to take place on Friday.

The council's statement was watered down from an earlier British-drafted version, which explicitly blamed 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, although the government said his narrow victory meant a run-off was necessary.

South Africa, an advocate of "quiet diplomacy" with 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.

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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." The opposition says nearly 90 of its supporters have been killed.

Mugabe was quoted by state-controlled media as saying at a rally on Monday: "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."

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.

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. "We wonder from whom Mr Tsvangirai is running away or hiding."

Chihuri was quoted as saying by the state-owned Herald newspaper on its website that Zimbabwean police had no plans to arrest Tsvangirai.

"We therefore declare that Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai is under no threat at all from Zimbabweans and he should cast away these delusions," he was quoted as saying.

Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported on its website that the government of the Netherlands had received assurances from Zimbabwean authorities that Tsvangirai and embassy staff will be safe.

When he announced 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.

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 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, 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 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.