Pretoria denies Zimbabwe coup threat

Air Marshal Shiri (centre) was said to be planning a coup

South Africa has denied being secretly warned by senior military officers in Zimbabwe that they would be prepared to mount a coup against the President, Robert Mugabe.

A report in British newspaper The Guardian said that a coup, headed by hardline air force chief Perence Shiri, would be launched if Zimbabwe's growing political and economic crisis led to riots.

Mugabe: defended role in Congo

The report said the failure of the country's maize crop would create a food crisis compounded by the absence of foreign currency reserves to pay for imports.

The Pretoria government said in a statement that it did not know of any coup threat and would inform the Zimbabwean authorities if it heard of any.

Zimbabwean officials also denied the report, saying it had been planted by opponents of the government to incite violence and split the government's ranks.

'Totalitarian tactics'

Mr Mugabe is facing his worst economic crisis in decades as he prepares to stand for re-election next year.

And he has been criticised by the United States and Britain, who say he is resorting to violence in an attempt to hang on to power.

Last week US Secretary of State Colin Powell accused Mr Mugabe of using "totalitarian" tactics.

But he responded on Tuesday, saying that the US and Britain were trying to demonise Zimbabwe's role in the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Those countries were at the same time condoning "acts of genocide and gross looting of the Congo's resources", he said.