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Personal Statement: Baroness Park of Monmouth

My Lords, with the leave of the House, I wish to make a personal statement. During the discussion on the Statement on Zimbabwe on 3 April, I said: "““Unless the present head of the UNDP is withdrawn, there will not be very much confidence in the UN’s role in the future of Zimbabwe. Two successive UNDP leaders have been far too close to Mugabe and indeed, in one case, have taken land from him””.—[Official Report, 3/4/08; col. 1187.]" I do not resile from my reservations about the UNDP’s relations with the Government of Zimbabwe. However, I said in good faith and believing it to be fact that one of the two heads of the UNDP in Zimbabwe had accepted favours of, I thought, land. I now recognise that I was wrong in believing what I said to be a generally accepted fact. I have and had no evidence to support my statement. I therefore wish to apologise, first, to the House for making a statement that I should not have made and, secondly, to Mr Angelo and Mr Zacarias for the unfavourable imputations that I have made against their reputations.