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 HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Police demolished squatter homes and rounded up street vendors, leaving thousands homeless in Zimbabwe's opposition strongholds in what President Robert Mugabe insisted was an urban clean-up campaign.
All the demolished homes were in areas that voted for the opposition in Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections, and Morgan Tsvangirai, an opposition leader, said the destruction was an assault on the urban poor who make up its support base. Mugabe's ZANU-PF party claimed victory in the disputed vote on March 31.
State radio said Friday that Mugabe, in his first comment on the crackdown called "Operation Marambatsvina" or "drive out trash," told the ruling party central committee that "genuine players in the small and medium enterprise sector would be resettled in new and clean sites that befit major cities."
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