Geneva/Harare - Zimbabwe's government called off at the last minute a visit by a United Nations expert on torture that had been due to start Wednesday, the UN announced.

The UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak, had been invited by President Robert Mugabe's government to visit Zimbabwe from 28 October to 4 November 2009.

But on arriving in Johannesburg, en route to Harare, he was informed that the mission had been called off, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR) said in a statement.

The statement quoted Zimbabwe's government as saying the visit came at a bad time because the government and regional leaders were in talks on ending a standoff in the country's coalition government.

The rapporteur took issue with that explanation.

"He fails to be convinced, however, that the Consultative process on Thursday, 29 October should be a valid reason to cancel his eight-day mission at such a late stage," the OHCHR statement said.

Calling for Zimbabwe to honour the invitation, the UN statement said: "Recent allegations that MDC supporters and human rights defenders have been arrested, harassed and intimidated during the past few days, highlight the urgency of objective fact-finding by an independent UN expert at this crucial stage." (dpa)