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Zimbabwe Arrests 130 Defiant White Farmers August 18, 2002 By REUTERS Filed at 7:17 a.m. ET HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - Zimbabwean police have arrested 130 white farmers over the last three days for defying government orders to leave their land for redistribution to landless blacks, farming groups said Sunday. 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 8 deadline. The disruption to agriculture in Zimbabwe, once the bread-basket of southern Africa, comes as millions in the region face food shortages. Farmers' lobby group Justice for Agriculture (JAG) said on Sunday latest figures showed 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 main Commercial Farmers Union, grouping 4,500 mainly white producers, said police arrested 107 farmers Saturday alone for continuing farming operations. ``In all cases farmers have been informed that they are to remove all personal property from their farms -- while some have been given time to do so but no ongoing attention to crops and livestock is to be permitted,'' CFU said. ``More than $3.72 billion Zimbabwe dollarsworth of ongoing crop and livestock production is at risk,'' the union added. Mugabe, who has been in power since the country gained independence from Britain in 1980, says his land drive is aimed at correcting colonial injustice that left 70 percent of the best farmland in the hands of white farmers. JAG says most of the targeted farmers have only one farm each and nowhere else to stay, nor any other source of income outside agriculture. Aid agencies say nearly six million Zimbabweans -- half the national population -- need food aid this year, part of a wider food crisis threatening nearly 13 million people in six southern African countries. Zimbabwe now needs food aid after drought and the farm invasions slashed output of the staple maize crop. Mugabe's government blames the shortage of maize solely on the drought that has hit small-scale black farmers who produce 70 percent of national output. Zimbabwe has been in crisis since pro-government militants led by veterans of the 1970s liberation war began invading white-owned farms in early 2000 in support of the government seizures. http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-zimbabwe-farmers.html?ex=1030679276&ei=1&en=6172044fe3e05a02 HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
