HARARE, Jan. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan's long-awaited visit to Zimbabwe has been scheduled for March this year, local newspaper The Herald reported on Friday.

    Foreign Affairs spokesperson John Mayowe was quoted as saying that the visit follows an invitation extended to Annan by President Robert Mugabe to see for himself the situation on the ground following the release of a controversial report on Operation Murambatsvina/Restore Order by his special envoy Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka last year.

    Mayowe said UN Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari delivered the message to President Mugabe on the sidelines of the 23rd France-Africa Summit in Bamako, Mali, on December 4.

    "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to update all concerned on the government's communication with the Office of the United Nations Secretary General."

    Sources at the UN office in Harare dismissed a report by a weekly newspaper claiming that Annan was dispatching Gambari to Zimbabwe following the release of an adverse report by the Under-Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland who visited Zimbabwe to discuss prospects for humanitarian assistance to people affected by Operation Murambatsvina/Restore Order.

    Egeland, who was in Zimbabwe from December 3 to 7 to assess Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle in preparation for the visit by the UN chief, followed in the footsteps of his predecessor, Tibaijuka, who released a one-sided report on the clean-up operation at variance with the statements she made in Zimbabwe.

    In spite of the politicization of Annan's trip by Britain and the United States, who tried to set conditions and an agenda for the trip, forgetting that it was initiated by Harare, Annan readily agreed to the visit.

    He was initially expected in Zimbabwe in September last year, but was delayed by Western attempts to torpedo the trip for fear that it would expose Tibaijuka's one-sided report.

    The trip became doubtful in November when a statement echoing British sentiments on Zimbabwe was attributed to Annan's office.

    Hopes are high that Annan's visit would thwart Western plans to send a flurry of UN envoys to Zimbabwe in a bid to portray the country as a disaster area warranting the intervention of the UN Security Council. Enditem