(Adds Tsvangirai quote in fourth paragraph.)

Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the head of the Anglican Church, asked Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe to help end attacks on its members by a splinter faction of the religious group, he said today.

The religious leader gave Mugabe information on “the abuses to which our people and our church have been subject,” he told reporters following a meeting with the president in Harare, the capital. “We have asked, in the clearest possible terms, that the president use his powers as head of state to put an end to all unacceptable and illegal behavior,” he said.

Williams met with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who deplored the attacks.

“The state has no role in the church but to protect people when they do pray,” Tsvangirai said. “I hope we do find a solution to this, people are suffering needlessly.”

--Editors: Emily Bowers, Vivek Shankar

To contact the reporter on this story: Godfrey Marawanyika in Johannesburg at gmarawanyika@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Emily Bowers at ebowers1@bloomberg.net