Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has called for a "negotiated political settlement" which would allow the country to begin "healing".
He also called for the immediate release of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) deputy Tendai Biti, held on treason charges.
He spoke after leaving the Dutch embassy, where he took refuge on Sunday after pulling out of a run-off vote.
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has vowed to go ahead with Friday's vote.
The Zimbabwean government has been criticised Amnesty International demands Tsvangirai's release ...
Zimbabwe's opposition weighs run-off option ... by the United Nations and South Africa's governing ANC party for the violence which has marked the run-up to the poll.
Mr Tsvangirai, leader of the MDC, urged the Zimbabwean authorities to end all violence and allow humanitarian aid to reach the country's people.
Speaking at a news conference at his house in Harare, he told African heads of state that the "time for action is now" to resolve Zimbabwe's political and humanitarian crisis.
"I am asking the AU [African Union] and Sadc [Southern African Development Community] to lead an expanded initiative supported by the UN to manage what I will call a transitional process," he said.
Demands
Mr Tsvangirai also listed four key demands that he described as a way out of the crisis.
- Violence must stop immediately - war veterans and youth militias should return home and checkpoints be removed
- Humanitarian assistance must be allowed into the country
- All members of parliament elected on 29 March must be sworn in
- All political prisoners, including the MDC secretary general, must be released immediately
He said the details of his proposals would need to be hammered out through negotiations.
The MDC says some 86 of its supporters have been killed and 200,000 forced from their homes by militias loyal to the ruling Zanu-PF party. The government blames the MDC for the violence.
(BBC)
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