UK slams Zimbabwe Interpol role

The UK Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, has condemned the appointment of Zimbabwe's police chief as honorary vice-president of Interpol.

Mr Straw said the appointment of Augustine Chihuri was an insult to the people who had suffered at the hands of the Zimbabwean police and security services.

His comments came in response to a letter from an opposition Conservative member of parliament in Britain.

It emerged this week that Mr Chihuri had accepted the position which was offered to him by the executive body of Interpol.

Mr Chihuri is one of a group of close associates of the Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe, who are subject to European Union and United States travel bans because of allegations of vote-rigging and human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service