A number of US and British diplomats were detained and held for several hours by Zimbabwean police today before being released, the US embassy said.
Police in Bindura, 80 km (50 miles) north of Harare, held the diplomats after they visited victims of political violence ahead of a presidential election run-off, the US embassy said.
"Police put up a roadblock, stopped the vehicles, slashed the tires, reached in and grabbed telephones from my personnel, and the war veterans [President Robert Mugabe's supporters] threatened to burn the vehicles with my people inside unless they got out and accompanied police to a station nearby," US ambassador James McGee told CNN.
Zimbabwe's government also said today it had indefinitely suspended all work by aid groups and non-governmental organisations, accusing a number of breaching their terms of registration.
The suspension comes nearly a week after Mr Mugabe's government banned some aid groups from distributing food, accusing them of campaigning for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change in general elections held on March 29th.
Zimbabwe’s deputy information minister, Bright Matonga, said the diplomats detained today were attending a rally of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) shortly before the incident.
Mr Matonga said: “There was a fight there. Police were called in. The diplomats fled from the scene. On their way back to Harare, they were stopped at a police roadblock.
“They were asked to disembark from the vehicle. They refused, and basically the police told them they were not going anywhere unless they got out of the car. The police told them they . . . should respect the laws of the country, unless they have something to hide,” Mr Matonga added.
Britain and the United States accuse Mr Mugabe of a campaign of violence and intimidation against supporters of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in the run-up to the vote.
Mr Tsvangirai beat Mr Mugabe in a March 29th presidential election but failed to win enough votes to avoid a second round.
The opposition says 65 people have been killed since the first round of voting by supporters of Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party who want to extend his 28-year rule. Mugabe blames the opposition for the violence.
Mr Tsvangirai was detained for nine hours on Wednesday but continued his campaign on Thursday.
South Africa said it planned to begin sending election observers to Zimbabwe this week as part of a larger mission sent by the Southern African Development Community, adding that it was essential that the election be fair and transparent.
Agencies