Mugabe Responds to Criticism

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President Robert Mugabe sees international criticism of the
razing of homes and offices that have left hundreds of
thousands homeless in Zimbabwe as unfair, a state-run daily
reported on Tuesday.

But Mugabe nevertheless told UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
that he will allow a special envoy to pay a visit to Zimbabwe
and report to the UN chief on Operation Murambatsvina,
meaning "Get rid of trash", that was launched about a month
ago.

"The president told Mr Annan that he was surprised that the
UN boss was only concerned about the Zimbabwean situation
when similar operations were being held in the United
Kingdom, South Africa and Kenya," The Herald newspaper said.

For the past month, police have demolished and torched
backyard shacks and shop stalls in cities and towns across
Zimbabwe, leaving between 200,000 and 1.5 million people
homeless according to the UN and the opposition respectively.

Annan has appointed Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, a Tanzanian
economist and the executive director of the Nairobi-based UN
Habitat program, to visit Zimbabwe to assess the humanitarian
impact of the campaign that the government has described as a
crackdown on crime.

"We have, against the background of misplaced hue and cry
over Operation Murambatsvina ... agreed to receive the
secretary general's special envoy on the matter," Mugabe's
spokesman George Charamba was quoted as saying by The Herald
on Tuesday. Charamba also lambasted the Western media for
ignoring the fact "that the Zimbabwean government has put in
place measures to rehabilitate and accommodate the people
affected by the operation."

The United States on Monday accused Zimbabwe's leadership of
committing a "crime" against its people after the government
extended the campaign against shacks and homes to business
offices operating in residential areas in Harare's posh
northern suburbs. The blitz, which has left poor people
homeless in winter, was a "tragedy, crime, horror - that the
government of Zimbabwe is perpetrating on its people," said
State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli.

The United States and the European Union on Monday issued a
joint statement expressing "deep concern (over) the
continuing governance and human rights crisis in Zimbabwe,
which has led to a near breakdown of the economic
situation." "We call upon the government of Zimbabwe to
reverse anti-democratic policies and to open a genuine
dialogue with all stakeholders," they said, saying they were
ready to offer food and other humanitarian aid in view of the
looming food shortages.

Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) party says the operation is intended to divert people's
attention from spiralling poverty, food shortages and
unemployment. "The so-called cleap up campaign is a
diversionary ruse to steer the people's attention away from
the grim reality on the ground," said MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai in a statement. More than 32,000 people have been
arrested, most of whom were street vendors and informal
traders who were later released.

The operation initially targetted the urban poor but has now
been extended to some farms and in rural areas as well as
affluent suburbs of the capital Harare where residential
properties have been converted to offices. Police have also
slapped a ban on farming in cities and urban areas, saying it
caused damage to water pipes.