Britain has today denied a newspaper report that it was drawing up emergency plans to evacuate up to 25,000 British citizens from Zimbabwe due to the country's controversial land reform campaign.
The Independentnewspaper said British and European diplomats were holding secret talks in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, about evacuation strategies.
"There is no suggestion at all that we are in any way planning to implement any plans for evacuation of British citizens from Zimbabwe," a Foreign Office spokesman told Reuters.
"We don't consider that we are anywhere near that stage, so any speculation is premature".
The former British colony has been plunged into economic and political crisis since February last year when self-styled war veterans - encouraged by the state - seized hundreds of white-owned farms across the country.