WASHINGTON (AP):

The United States yesterday expressed outrage over what it called Zim-babwe's unjust detention of US diplomats and protested the envoys' treatment at the United Nations.

Zimbabwean officials eventually released the diplomats, who were stopped at a roadblock north of Harare, the capital. But the chief US representative in Zimbabwe said police slashed tyres and grabbed phones, and that "war veterans" threatened to burn the vehicles with the officials inside.

Condemning the outrage

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaking to reporters at the State Department, condemned the "outrageous act" and said she hoped the UN would not "consider the mistreatment of diplomats to be an internal matter for Zimbabwe".

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack warned that "while this immediate incident has been resolved, it will not be forgotten".

Despite US anger, Rice indicated that the US ambassador would not be recalled in protest because American diplomats were needed to ensure "some modicum of civility" and fairness in a June 27 presidential run-off election.

Opposition and rights groups have accused President Robert Mugabe of orchestrating violence and intimidation in the run-up to the contest.

Message of protest

In Rome, senior US and British officials delivered a message of protest to a member of the Zimbabwean delegation on the plenary floor of a UN food conference. State Department officials said the Zimbabwean diplomat initially attempted to ignore the US and British envoys' presence.

At the United Nations, US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad "called for consultations on the tragic attack in Zimbabwe" with other Security Council members in the council chambers, Richard Grenell, spokesman for the US Mission to the UN, said.