Zimbabwe says US, UK envoys were at MDC gathering

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A GROUP of British and American diplomats who were detained by police Thursday in Zimbabwe had been addressing a gathering at the home of an opposition party activist, the Harare government said.

"The British and American diplomats had gone to a house in Bindura where they addressed a gathering. There was commotion and police were called in," Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga told AFP.

"When police arrived they fled and then they were stopped at a roadblock on the way.

"When they refused to disembark following orders by the police, police then deflated the tyres of one of the vehicles."

Asked for the identity of the person who lived in the house, Matonga said he was a member of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Matonga said that the government of President Robert Mugabe, who is facing a run-off election against MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai on June 27, was "outraged" by the conduct of the diplomats.

"As government we are outraged by the behaviour of the British and Americans," he said.

"They are trying to provoke us. They want us to play into their hands." - AFP

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