HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe on Friday accused United Nations torture expert Manfred Nowak, who was expelled from the country, of trying to provoke a diplomatic incident by ignoring a request to delay his trip.

Nowak said he would recommend that the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) take action against Harare after Zimbabwean security officials detained him on arrival overnight and forced him onto a South African-bound plane on Thursday.

Zimbabwean Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi said on Friday that Nowak, the UNHRC's special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, had ignored a decision by President Robert Mugabe's government to postpone a week-long visit.

Nowak had said he received an invitation from the office of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who formed a unity government with President Robert Mugabe in February that has been strained by a dispute over implementing a power-sharing agreement.

Nowak said his expulsion underscored disarray in the new administration. Mumbengegwi is a close ally of Mugabe.

"You are dealing with independent sovereign states, and you do not treat independent sovereign states in that manner -- whether you like it or not I am coming into your country," Mumbengegwi told a news conference.

"This was a calculated move to create a diplomatic incident."

Nowak said the refusal to allow him entry to Zimbabwe was either a misunderstanding or something more deliberate on the part of some members of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party.