Annan to go ahead with Zimbabwe visit

Annan to go ahead with Zimbabwe visit

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By Lebo Nkatazo

UNITED Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Tuesday he still plans to visit Zimbabwe, contradicting a government spokesperson who said his invitation was no longer valid.

Annan had been planning for a year to visit Zimbabwe at the invitation of President Robert Mugabe to see the outcome of a slum clearance operation that has left 700 000 people homeless or without livelihoods.

But Mugabe spokesperson George Charamba said last week that there was no longer any need for Annan to visit because the operation had been followed by a rehousing programme.

Charamba's comments came after reports emerged that Annan might use the visit to press Mugabe to step down after more than two decades in power.

Annan told reporters on Tuesday morning that he was not sure the invitation had been withdrawn. Though a date for the visit had not been set, he still hoped to go to Zimbabwe

"I read the newspaper report that one of his ministers said the invitation has been withdrawn but I'm not quite sure that is correct," Annan said.

"I'm continuing my preparations and I do hope to visit Zimbabwe as planned and when the date is fixed I'll let you know."

Western development aid, investment and loans have dried up in political and economic turmoil following Mugabe's campaign, begun in 2000, to seize farms from whites and transfer the land to blacks.

Zimbabwe's once healthy, agriculture-based economy has collapsed since the seizures began and Mugabe has grown increasingly autocratic - AP
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