Zimbabwe's media commission yesterday said it would ask authorities to ban foreign newspapers that are not registered to operate in the country.

"The Zimbabwe media commission has resolved to bar affected papers from entrance into and circulation within Zimbabwe until they comply with Zimbabwe's laws," commission chairman Godfrey Majonga said.

He singled out the Sunday Times as having failed to comply with the rules, which require journalists working in Zimbabwe to obtain accreditation .

"We regret that one-and-a-half years since our reminder to the affected media services to comply with Zimbabwe's laws by regularising their status and that of all journalists working for them, the same papers and journalists are operating exactly as they were doing a year ago," Majonga said.

However, Sunday Times editor Ray Hartley said Zimbabwean authorities have not informed him of any possibility of the paper being banned.

"At this moment we will continue to publish. As far as I'm concerned that is a rumour that has been circulating for a long time," he said.

Media in Zimbabwe have operated under stringent rules for the past decade, with several newspapers forced to shut down while journalists and foreign correspondents have been deported and harassed by the police.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who joined President Robert Mugabe in a unity government three years ago, has vowed to abolish the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which bars foreign journalists from working permanently in the country.

The 2002 act forced media organisations and journalists to register with a government body and has been invoked to arrest independent journalists.

The slow pace of media reforms is one of the main sticking points in the unity accord between Mugabe and Tsvangirai.