White farmer shot in Zimbabwe

A white farm manager has been shot dead in Zimbabwe, on a farm that had been earmarked to be confiscated and leased to a high ranking civil servant, a neighbour said.

It was not immediately clear if there was a link between the killing and the government's controversial land distribution programme.

Charles Anderson, 40, was shot in the head by four assailants who had broken into his home on the farm in Glendale, 50 miles north of Harare, a neighbour said.

The neighbour said police arrived at the scene more than two hours after the shooting, ignoring requests to come immediately following the incident.

The assailants fled, taking stolen property with them. No militant ruling party activists have settled on the farm as they have on many other properties targeted for redistribution, suggesting the incident may have been in the context of a robbery.

A government list, published in February, said the farm where Mr Anderson worked was to be leased to a top official in the agriculture ministry.