Two British journalists have been arrested by Zimbabwean police during Thursday's parliamentary elections due to violation of related electoral law, a senior police officer has said.

The two Britons, 37-year old Toby John Harder and 46-year-old Julian Paul Simmonds, employed by the Sunday Telegraph, were arrested in Norton on Thursday afternoon, according to Police Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena.

Bvudzijena told reporters on Thursday evening that the two Britons were nabbed for breaching the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act by reporting on the elections without accreditation from the Media and Information Commission.

The men came into the country on March 20 as tourists, the Bvudzijena said.

The relationship between Zimbabwe and its former colonial ruler Britain has gone sour since 2000 after Zimbabwe began seizing lands from white farmers, who owned the bulk of the country's arable land, to resettle landless peasants.

The seizures were prompted by Britain's refusal to honor several promises it made, including as part of an independence package for Zimbabwe in 1980, to fund land reform and resettlement in the southern African country.

Instead, London has turned around, and vehemently opposed Zimbabwe's land policies, and mobilized other Western countries and organizations, including the Commonwealth, to pressure Harare to relent on the issue.

Zimbabwe pulled out of the Commonwealth, a group of mainly former British colonies, in 2003 after it extended its controversial suspension of Zimbabwe, on grounds of alleged human rights violations, among other things.

Zimbabwe denied the charges, and instead accused Britain and its close allies, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand, of using the allegations to build up international opposition to the country's land policies.

Meanwhile, Bvudzijena said the Zimbabwe Republic Police is investigating opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) candidate for Chinhoyi constituency, Silas Matamisa for allegedly assaulting a voter.

The officer said that Matamisa allegedly manhandled a voter who was in a queue at one of the polling stations in the constituency.

"We are investigating Mr Matamisa for assaulting a voter who was in a queue," he said.

Matamisa is fighting it out with ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) candidate, Faber Chidarikire, in the constituency.

Zimbabwe held the sixth parliamentary elections Thursday. Though five political parties contested the poll, it is largely seen as a two-horse race between ZANU-PF and its main rival, the MDC.

ZANU-PF has been ruling party since Zimbabwe attained political independence on April 18, 1980 from former colonial ruler Britain. However in last parliamentary elections held in 2000, the party just got a feeble majority with 62 seats. The MDC, a party launched just one year before that elections, won 57 seats.

Zimbabwe's parliament, also called House of Assembly has 150 members: 120 elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies and 12 appointed members by president, eight governors and 10 elected chiefs.

Source: Xinhua