Zimbabwe ? Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from Zimbabwe’s presidential runoff election under the might of a vicious campaign of political violence by President Robert Mugabe, saying that “we cannot stand there and watch people being killed for the sake of power.”

Tsvangirai’s decision ends an electrifying challenge to Mugabe, who over 28 years has led his once-bountiful country into economic ruin, then unleashed an onslaught of state-sponsored torture, beatings and killings after he lost the first round of voting in March. Election officials deemed a runoff necessary because neither candidate got a majority of votes, and they set the date for Friday.

Since the first round of voting, gangs of ruling-party youths and other supporters have rampaged through rural Zimbabwe and increasingly moved into major cities, attacking anyone showing signs of opposition support, even a T-shirt or bandanna bearing the party colors, red and black.