Subject: BBC- Mugabe opponent forced off
farm
Thursday, 11 May, 2000, 19:43 GMT
20:43 UK -BBC
Mugabe opponent forced
off farm
Hunzvi reported progress in talks with farmers
A
white Zimbabwean farmer has been
prevented from returning to his land after
refusing to renounce his support for the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
White farmers who have agreed not to support
the opposition are currently engaged in talks
with the war veterans' association which is
leading the invasion of white-owned farms.
Representatives of the two sides are due to
meet President Robert Mugabe on Friday as
part of a drive to end the crisis over the
occupation of white-owned land.
But land invasions and politically-motivated
attacks have continued as the talks have been
going on.
Farmer Roy Bennet -
who intends to stand
as an opposition
candidate in the
election - was absent
from his property when
supporters of President
Mugabe occupied it on
Wednesday.
His wife and his
workers were forced to
chant slogans
supporting the ruling
Zanu-PF party.
Beaten
One man who refused to condemn the
opposition enthusiastically enough was beaten.
Mr Bennet told the BBC he believes he would
have been killed if he had been at home when
the squatters arrived at his farm in the eastern
Chimanimani region.
When he met the squatters on Thursday, he
was told he would have to renounce the MDC
if he wanted to return to his farm.
Mr Bennet said he would not be intimidated.
"You can choose good or you can choose evil,"
he said. "I am on the side of good, and on the
side of the Zimbabwean people."
Rape
The Commercial Farmers' Union said squatters
moved onto five news farms on Wednesday
night.
In one incident, a police spokesman said a
woman was gang-raped by men who accused
her husband of being an MDC supporter.
Meanwhile, Chenjerai
Hunzvi, leader of the
Zimbabwe National War
Veterans' Association,
said "some progress"
had been made at the
talks with the farmers,
and that a joint
statement would be
issued on Friday.
"Both sides will be
meeting with the
president tomorrow,"
said Fidelis Mukonori, a Roman Catholic priest
who has been mediating between the two
parties.
A
task force comprising farmers' and squatters'
representatives has been travelling around the
country over the past week, trying to ensure
that there is no more violence and agricultural
production can proceed as normal.
Some farmers have begun to find common
ground with the squatters, but only after
promising to withdraw their support for the
MDC.
Chaos warning
The MDC will decide on Saturday whether to
boycott the parliamentary election which is
due in the coming months, but for which no
date has been announced.
Attacks on MDC activists have raised doubts
as to whether an election in Zimbabwe can be
free and fair in present circumstances.
At least 12 MDC members have been murdered
in attacks blamed on supporters of President
Mugabe.
The United Kingdom's Minister for Africa, Peter
Hain, warned of further chaos if free elections
were not held.
"The collapse in external and internal
confidence would lead to a more serious
situation," Mr Hain told reporters during a visit
to Zambia.
"It would mean a desperate crisis for Zimbabwe
even more tragic than the present."