The Zimbabwe government has dismissed as false a damning UN report implicating it in the looting of natural resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the state-run Heraldsaid today.
Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge was quoted in the paper as saying the report was a "pack of lies" invented by the British government.
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"We know that the report has been created by the British government, who are keen to discredit Zimbabwe at all costs," he said.
The UN report, released last week, asserted that the plundering of the DRC's natural resources has continued unabated by all sides in the conflict.
Zimbabwe deployed troops to the DRC in 1998, along with Namibia and Angola, to back the government against a rebel insurgency launched with military support from Rwanda and Uganda.
Harare has clinched various business and commercial deals in the DRC, including mining concessions.
Relations between Zimbabwe and former colonial master Britain are looking increasingly strained.
Last week Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw threatened diplomatic action over the Zimbabwe government's labelling of foreign correspondents here as "terrorists".
AFP