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HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Hundreds of homes have been built in Zimbabwe's capital to replace some of the thousands destroyed in a widely criticized official "cleanup" campaign, the government said Saturday ahead of a planned visit by a United Nations envoy.
President Robert Mugabe earlier scorned Western "demonization" of his five-week program called Operation Murambatsvina, or "Drive Out Trash," which has left between 200,000 and 1.5 million Zimbabweans without homes or livelihoods.
Saturday's announcement followed the condemnation by 10 U.N. human rights experts of the demolition of tens of thousands of homes in shantytowns and the destruction of street markets and vegetable gardens. More than 200 international human rights and civic groups Thursday demanded an end to the campaign, as have Western governments, including the United States, Britain and Australia.
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