A U.N. special envoy on housing held talks with Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe Wednesday to discuss a controversial wave of shack demolitions that has left at least 300,000 people homeless, officials said. Anna Tibaijuka, the head of UN-Habitat, met the Zimbabwean president at around 10 a.m., according to a statement from the UN carried by dpa. Mugabe's government claims the campaign - dubbed Operation Restore Order - is a bid to restore "dignity" to the country. "(Operation Restore Order) had been on our books for a long time," Mugabe told reporters after the meeting. He said his government had delayed starting the programme ahead of March elections because he felt it might impact negatively on the main opposition party's chances. Mugabe's ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) won the disputed poll overwhelmingly, but lost to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in places like Harare. --More 2327 Local Time 2027 GMT
