Tsvangirai denies peacekeepers request

(CNN) -- Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai Wednesday denied writing an editorial that appeared in a British newspaper under his name calling for armed international peacekeepers to ensure a free and fair election in Zimbabwe.

"I am not advocating for military intervention in Zimbabwe by the United Nations or any other organization," Tsvangirai said in a statement released by his Movement for Democratic Change party.

"The MDC is committed to finding an African solution to the crisis in Zimbabwe and appreciates the work of (Southern African Development Community) in this regard."

The MDC, he said, is committed to "a peaceful, sustainable solution" to the ongoing crisis in Zimbabwe.

Tsvangirai withdrew earlier this week from a presidential runoff election, scheduled for Friday, against President Robert Mugabe, citing pre-election violence that the MDC said has targeted its supporters. The U.N. Security Council unanimously condemned Zimbabwe's government for the violence.

Mugabe says the violence has targeted his own ZANU-PF party.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission ruled that Friday's vote would go on as scheduled despite Tsvangirai's withdrawal, although U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the SADC had urged a postponement.

On Wednesday morning, the British newspaper The Guardian published an editorial it said was penned by Tsvangirai that called the situation in Zimbabwe "a battle between democracy and dictatorship, justice and injustice, right and wrong."

"We do not want armed conflict, but the people of Zimbabwe need the words of indignation from global leaders to be backed by the moral rectitude of military force," Tsvangirai was believed to have written in Wednesday's edition of the British newspaper The Guardian.

"Such a force would be in the role of peacekeepers, not trouble-makers. They would separate the people from their oppressors and cast the protective shield around the democratic process for which Zimbabwe yearns."

But later Wednesday, Tsvangirai denied having written it and said that although "credible sources" had told The Guardian he was the author, "this was not the case."

"An article that appeared in my name, published in the Guardian ... does not reflect my position or opinions regarding solutions to the Zimbabwean crisis," he said.

CNN was unable to reach anyone at The Guardian who could comment on the matter.

Tsvangirai said that his party advocated four actions that "must be taken with immediate effect" to address the crisis in Zimbabwe:

-- The violence must stop immediately;

-- Emergency humanitarian organizations must be allowed to operate freely and without hindrance throughout the country;

-- All political prisoners must be freed immediately; and

-- Parliament and Senate must be sworn in and begin working on the people's business.

All About Zimbabwe • Robert Mugabe • Morgan Tsvangirai