ZIMBABWE: Zimbabwean police arrested 130 white farmers during the last three days for defying government orders to leave their land for redistribution to landless blacks, farming groups have said.
President Robert Mugabe's government has ordered 2,900 farmers of the country's remaining 4,500 white commercial farmers to quit their land without compensation, but nearly two-thirds have defied an August 8th deadline.
The disruption to agriculture in Zimbabwe, once the bread-basket of southern Africa, comes as millions face food shortages.
The farmers' lobby group, Justice for Agriculture, said yesterday 130 farmers had been arrested since Thursday for defying eviction orders. Of these, 38 had appeared in court and were out on bail, while 92 were still in custody.
In a separate statement, the Commercial Farmers' Union, grouping 4,500 mainly white producers, said police arrested 107 farmers on Saturday alone for continuing farming operations.
"In all cases farmers have been informed that they are to remove all personal property from their farms - some have been given time to do so, but no ongoing attention to crops and livestock is to be permitted."
Aid agencies say nearly six million Zimbabweans - half the population - will need food aid this year.