Zimbabwe 'halts urban slum blitz'

Thousands of 'illegal' homes have been destroyed

Zimbabwe's vice-president has said the country has ended its policy of demolishing homes in urban slum areas.

The government has made such announcements in the past but the clearances have continued.

The statement comes a day after a damning UN report on the programme was discussed at the UN Security Council.

The report condemned the operation, known as Drive out Trash, as inhumane, saying it was causing "immense suffering".

Some 700,000 people were left homeless and a total of 2.4 million had been affected, it said.

Zimbabwe's government maintained the operation was aimed at fighting crime and cleaning up slums and shanty towns.

International pressure

"Operation Murambatsvina [Drive out Trash] is now complete," Vice President Joyce Mujuru said on a state radio broadcast.

The scale of suffering is immense, particularly among widows, single mothers, children, orphans, the elderly and disabled persons Report increases pressure UN report in full (1.6K) Most computers will open PDF documents automatically, but you may need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader. Download the reader here

"I appeal to the international community to stop stone-throwing," she said.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan last week said he would accept President Robert Mugabe's invitation to visit the country, though his spokesman said this would not be until the clearances are halted.

Zimbabwe's foreign minister has condemned the UN report, saying its allegations are "definitely false" and its language is "judgemental".

The country has come under increasing international pressure to halt the demolitions.

Donor countries have withdrawn foreign aid over policy differences, forcing Mr Mugabe to seek the support of China and neighbouring South Africa.

The Zimbabwean opposition says the evictions are meant to punish urban residents, who have rejected Mr Mugabe in favour of the opposition in recent elections.