LONDON, June 23 (UPI) -- African leaders should speak out against forced eviction and human rights abuses in Zimbabwe, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in London Thursday.
Speaking after a London summit with foreign ministers from the Group of Eight wealthy nations, Rice urged the African Union to speak out over the "tragic" events.
G8 ministers issued a strong condemnation of forced evictions carried out by Robert Mugabe's regime. The four-week crackdown, called Operation Murambatsvina (Drive out rubbish), is intended to "restore sanity" to Zimbabwe's urban areas, which the aging president says have become overrun by criminals.
Police have moved through urban areas with bulldozers and sledgehammers, demolishing shacks and informal markets.
The state-controlled Herald newspaper in Zimbabwe has reported that two young children were crushed to death when their homes were knocked down on the outskirts of the capital, Harare.
The United Nations says at least 200,000 have been left homeless in the operation and has called for an investigation.
