President Frederick Chiluba of Zambia says he intends to meet leaders of the country's Roman Catholic church to discuss their worries about the way the country is being run.

He also reprimanded ministers who have criticised the bishops for a pastoral letter they issued denouncing what the church characterised as an epidemic of corruption and injustice afflicting the country.

Mr Chiluba said the bishops' language had been strong, but this was no justification for ministers to show open contempt and disrespect to Christian leaders.

In the most recent such attack, the community development minister, Dawson Lupunga, called the bishops liars and said they could not substantiate their allegations. The pastoral letter, which was read out in churches on Sunday, called on Christians to throw off their apathy and break what it called a conspiracy of silence over persistent human rights abuses and corruption.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service