White farmers threatened in Zimbabwe

White farmers threatened with eviction in Zimbabwe today reported a wave of threats and intimidation by government officials and ruling party militants trying to force them out of their homes.

Five farmers in the southeast of the country left their land early today after soldiers, armed police and local officials warned them they were violating the eviction laws.

Further north, militants threatened farmers with violence if they did not abandon their properties, said Justice for Agriculture, a new group calling for legal challenges to the evictions.

JAR spokeswoman Jenni Williams said one black settler fired a pistol in the air in an attempt to drive away one farmer and his labourers.

Near the capital Harare, a black manager employed by a white farmer was beaten up by militants yesterday, she said.

The government of President Robert Mugabe has targeted 95% of white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks.

But it has so far taken no direct action against the hundreds of white farmers defying eviction orders and staying in their homes.

The government says its programme is a final effort to correct colonial era imbalances in land ownership.

Critics say it is part of the increasingly authoritarian government’s efforts to cling to power amid more than two years of economic chaos and political violence mainly blamed on Mugabe’s Zanu-PF ruling party.

Yesterday, Mugabe said he would not tolerate opposition to his plans or allow whites to retain massive farms.

But he said he was willing to allow "loyal" whites to stay on some land.

The stand-off comes as half Zimbabwe’s 12.5 million people face a severe hunger crisis, according to the UN’s World Food Programme.

The WFP blames the crisis on drought combined with the agricultural chaos caused by the seizures.

Human rights groups have expressed concern over claims the government is withholding food from opposition strongholds.