When Morgan Tsvangirai held a press conference on Sunday to announce that we was withdrawing from Zimbabwe’s presidential runoff election slated for Friday, he sat next to Dutch ambassador Jos Weterings. Afterwards Tsyangirai left in Weterings's car, flying Dutch flags, and rode straight to the embassy in Harrare, where the Dutch received him as a political refugee. “The Dutch embassy in Zimbabwe has been guaranteed by the authorities that our diplomatic immunity will be respected,” the embassy said in a statement. Tsvangirai said on Dutch radio early Tuesday morning that he feels “safe” and thanked the Dutch for their hospitality.

What happens next? Bert Koenders, the Dutch minister of “Overseas Development Policy,” expects Tsvangirai to ask for a United Nations investigation into who initiated the violence against voters and opposition members in Zimbabwe. He will also ask for help in insuring “honest organized elections” in Zimbabwe. According to Koenders, Tsvangirai’s decision to withdraw was intended to be an “instrument to empower international pressure at Mugabe.” Sources in The Hague say that the Dutch government had been meeting over the weekend to discuss the Zimbabwe problem and Tsvangirai’s request for asylum. The Dutch are said to have consulted the U.S. embassy in The Hague and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington, but neither the Dutch nor the U.S. embassy would confirm the rumors. On Tuesday morning Tsvangirai said in an interview with Dutch radio reporters that he expects that he can leave the embassy “soon”.