Zimbabwe claims urban 'clean up' is ending

President Robert Mugabe’s government is winding up a so-called urban renewal campaign that has destroyed the homes and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans, a State-run newspaper reported today, hours before the arrival of a UN envoy to investigate the drive.

The Sunday Mail report was dismissed by a spokesman for the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change, Paul Themba Nyathi, who said the destruction of shanty towns continued unabated over the weekend in the southern border town of Beitbridge.