Zimbabwe's police have apologised for disrupting the opposition MDC Alliance's press conference earlier, saying in a statement that they "wish to state that we respect freedom of the media, freedom of expression and freedom of association".

A legal adviser for Nelson Chamisa, Zimbabwe's opposition MDC Alliance leader, said that police told him they broke up the press conference because they had mistaken it for a political gathering.

The BBC's Fergal Keane earlier tweeted that President-elect Mnangagwa's disavowal of police actions signalled "very strange days in Zimbabwe".