British Foreign Secretary Mr Jack Straw has urged Zimbabwe to reconsider its expulsion of a British journalist, warning of disapproval from the international community.
The Daily Telegraph'sHarare-based correspondent, Mr David Blair, said he was called before Zimbabwe's Information Minister, Mr Jonathan Moyo, and ordered to leave the country when his work permit expires in three weeks.
"The international community will not be impressed by any actions of the government of Zimbabwe which make it more difficult for the international media to report what is happening there," Mr Straw said in a statement.
Mr Straw said he was concerned by the move and urged the Zimbabwean government to reconsider.
Mr Blair said his meeting with MrMoyo was underpinned by a feeling of menace and the message that he was being closely watched.
"He would not reveal why he had rejected my application. I repeatedly asked for a reason and was repeatedly rebuffed with the mantra that it was an administrative decision," Mr Blair wrote in the paper.
"Before I had even sat down, Moyo casually let slip a detail about my future plans that he could only have learnt from a tapped telephone conversation, intercepted e-mail or an informant."