Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has called for "armed peacekeepers" to be sent to his country amid growing international condemnation of President Robert Mugabe.
Mr Tsvangirai left the Dutch embassy, where he has been for three days, after withdrawing from Friday's presidential run-off, and from his home he appealed for renewed efforts by regional leaders meeting on the Zimbabwe unrest.
"I didn't ask for any military intervention, but for armed peacekeepers," he told reporters at his house.
"This cannot be a part-time mediation effort," Mr Tsvangirai added. "The time for action is now. The people in the country can wait no longer."
A mourner grieves at the funeral of Abigail Chitoro, the wife of a prominent opposition MDC member, in Harare. Ms Chitoro was dragged from her home last week and beaten by ruling Zanu-PF party members so badly that relatives struggled to identify her body.
He called on the African Union and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) "to lead... to start what I would call a transitional setup" that "would allow the country to heal."
Meanwhile, Zimbawe's electoral commission said the decision by Mr Tsvangirai to withdraw from the run-off has no legal effect and the vote will go ahead. "Accordingly, the commission does not recognise the purpoted withdrawal. We are, therefore, proceeding with the presidential election run-off this Friday as planned," Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chairman George Chiweshe said.
As Mr Tsvangirai left the embassy, police raided a headquarters of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the eastern city of Mutare where 200 people displaced by political violence had taken refuge, according to an MDC spokesman.
The MDC claims scores of its supporters have been killed in political violence since Mr Tsvangirai beat Mr Mugabe in the first round of the presidential vote but did not get the majority needed to become president.
After giving the brief news conference Mr Tsvangirai returned to the Dutch embassy in Harare. A Dutch foreign ministry spokesman said said Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen had told him by telephone earlier in the day that he was welcome to stay as long as he wanted.
Earlier, SADC leaders held an emergency meeting to discuss Zimbabwe's crisis and Kenya stepped up African pressure for intervention, saying the country risked a Rwanda-style disaster.
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga told reporters: "Zimbabwe right now is a disaster in the making," while Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula described the crisis as a blot on Africa.
Mr Odinga, one of the continent's most outspoken critics of Mr Mugabe, said Friday's presidential election should be postponed. "If the world does not act now, we will soon have a situation very similar to what we saw in Rwanda," he said referring to the 1994 genocide in which 800,000 people died.
The region's designated mediator, South African President Thabo Mbeki, did not attend. Mr Mbeki has been negotiating between Mr Mugabe and Zimbabwe's opposition since last year but has been widely criticised for being ineffective and too soft on Mr Mugabe.
Mr Odinga suggested a team from the African Union, backed by the United Nations, should be involved in the crisis which has seen the collapse of Zimbabwe's economy - now suffering hyperinflation of around 2 million per cent according to experts.
There has been wide international condemnation of the violence but SADC is seen as the only body that can influence events in Zimbabwe. Several of its members have been flooded by millions of refugees fleeing the economic collapse of the once prosperous country.