HARARE, Zimbabwe, June 27 (UPI) -- As many as 4,000 Zimbabweans are dying every week from starvation and AIDS as part of leader Robert Mugabe's forced relocation of poor people to the bush.
The Independent reported the figure Monday, as U.N. Special Envoy Anna Tibaijuka of Tanzania arrived in Zimbabwe late Sunday to assess the quality of life. However, the newspaper said her government-orchestrated tour will not take her to the famine-stricken countryside, where Spanish physician Pedro Porrino said most people he sees have AIDS, but die of starvation first.
"Ninety percent of the people I see are HIV-infected," said Porrino. "I am seeing men of 25 and 35 weighing 45 kilograms (100 pounds) and it's because they have AIDS but it's also because they don't eat at all."
In power since 1980, Mugabe has said he is pleased with the results of the month-old relocation campaign he named Murambatsvina, which means "drive out the rubbish" in the Shona language. So far, about 400,000 people have fled after their homes were bulldozed or burned.
