Washington, June 24, SPA -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday that Zimbabwe must be held accountable for election violence that drove the opposition to withdraw from a presidential run-off vote. “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, " Rice said in a statement. The top U.S. diplomat said regional and world leaders must address the mounting violence in Zimbabwe. “We call upon the Southern African Development Community, African Union Peace and Security Council, and the United Nations Security Council to take up this issue immediately,” she wrote. “The United States condemns in the strongest terms the government of Zimbabwe’s continuing campaign of violence against its own people, " Rice said, adding that reports of attacks against election monitors were “particularly troubling.” After withdrawing from this week’s run-off vote, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Monday took refuge at the Netherlands embassy in Harare. Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, on Sunday announced he was quitting the run-off against President Robert Mugabe, saying increasing violence made a free and fair election impossible.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/567969