ARMED police stormed several Anglican churches in Harare last Sunday, forcing worshippers opposed to the deposed bishop and government ally Nolbert Kunonga to leave the buildings, writes Ellen Teague.

Nicknamed "Mugabe's bishop", Kunonga was formally replaced as Bishop of Harare last month after illegally withdrawing his diocese from the Anglican Province of Central Africa.

His replacement, Bishop Sebastian Bakare, said that police disrupted the service he was taking at St Luke's parish in the suburb of Greendale, adding: "The police arrested one of my priests who had not provoked anybody, while Kunonga entered the church with his wife and bodyguards and sat in front of the high altar, glaring at the congregation."

Police earlier this week sent a circular to all Anglican parishes in Harare forbidding priests other than those loyal to Kunonga from conducting services. Meanwhile Lambeth Palace issued a statement on Monday saying that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, condemned the use of state machinery to intimidate opponents of the deposed bishop and was "appalled" by reports of Zimbabwean police forcibly stopping Sunday services in several churches in Harare "where clergy have publicly and bravely refused to acknowledge Kunonga's Episcopal authority".