U.S. election monitor freed by Zimbabwe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. election monitor was released by authorities in Zimbabwe on Wednesday after six days in detention and has now left the country, his employers said.

Dileepan Sivapathasundaram, a senior program officer with the National Democratic Institute (NDI), a U.S. organization that monitors elections worldwide and promotes democracy, was arrested last Thursday at Harare airport.

After more than 22 hours during which authorities said he was not being held, Sivapathasundaram was finally tracked down to Harare's central police station.

"NDI is thankful that Mr. Sivapathasundaram has been released unharmed and wishes to thank those around the world who worked to secure his freedom," said former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, chairman of the NDI board of directors.

"His illegal detention was another indication of the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe, where the government has yet to release results from the presidential election held more than 10 days ago," Albright said in a statement.

NDI called on the government of Zimbabwe to release all others detained for political reasons.

Two foreign journalists, including a New York Times correspondent, Barry Bearak, have been arrested and charged with violating Zimbabwe's media laws, according to police.

Sivapathasundaram was questioned for several days by Zimbabwe authorities, who took his passport and computer, NDI said.

He was in Zimbabwe for NDI to help monitor the elections in accordance with Zimbabwean law, NDI said.