The German government has sent a written protest to the Zimbabwean over an alleged attack by Zimbabwean soldiers on a German priest last weekend.

In a letter to the ministry dated Tuesday, the German embassy expressed its "utter consternation about a violent attack on Father Wolfgang Thamm SJ, by four junior members of the Zimbabwean Army on 15 November 2009 at the city of Banket."

Thamm, a Jesuit priest, was stopped without apparent reason by soldiers as he was driving past an army barracks in the farming town of Banket, about 100 kilometres west of Harare, according to the embassy letter disclosed on Wednesday.

One soldier took the priest's glasses and slammed him in the face, the embassy wrote.

The cleric was then ordered by the soldiers to kneel on the ground in a large puddle of water.

When he hesitated to follow the order, he was "brutally kicked several times," the embassy added, calling the incident "totally unacceptable" and "particularly despicable" in view of Thamm's long years of service in Zimbabwe.

Joey Bimha, the foreign affairs permanent secretary confirmed that the letter had been delivered on Tuesday. Bimha said Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi was out of the country and that the ministry had not yet issued a reply.

Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena could not be reached for comment, but a police official in Banket confirmed that Thamm had reported the assault.

"No one has so far been arrested, that is all I can say about that incident," the official said.

By The Times (SA)