HARARE: Zimbabwe Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa accused a European Union delegation that visited Harare at the weekend of trying to undermine the fragile unity government, state media reported Monday.

"They seem to want to undermine the inclusive government," Chinamasa was quoted as saying by the Herald newspaper.

Chinamasa, a close ally of veteran President Robert Mugabe, said that the delegation had shown clear bias towards the Movement for Democratic Change party of Morgan Tsvangirai, prime minister of an uneasy coalition government.

"They just swallow line, hook and sinker what the (MDC) says," said Chinamasa.

His comments come after EU delegation, which held talks with Mugabe and his long-time rival Tsvangirai on Saturday, slammed reports of human rights violations in Zimbabwe during the first such visit to Zimbabwe for seven years.

The EU also rejected calls for an end to sanctions imposed against Mugabe and his inner circle, which include a travel ban and a freeze on bank accounts.

"We appealed to them to lift economic sanctions. We do not want to continue to be a basket case where we are objects of charity and pity. We also appealed to them to move from humanitarian to development assistance," said Chinamasa.

While dialogue with the EU would continue, Chinamasa said there was concern that the bloc had taken sides and was portraying cases of common law murder as political violence.

Tsvangirai joined Mugabe in a unity government in February in a bid to end political unrest that erupted after last year's failed elections.

But the two remain deadlocked over key appointments, while Mugabe stands accused of dragging his feet over reforming media laws and the security forces.