Mugabe warns white farmers

President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has warned the country’s white farmers that they would face “very, very, very severe” violence if they provoked war veterans who have occupied some 600 white-owned farms around the country.

He made the remarks in an interview with Reuters Television on Monday in which he also accused Britain of leading an international campaign against Zimbabwe after he had criticised the “gay philosophy” of Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Mugabe said he would not act against the veterans who had invaded the farms in a bid to seize white-owned land for resettlement. “There have been very few cases of violence, but if the farmers start to be angry and start to be violent, then of course they will get that medicine delivered to them,” Mugabe said. “And it can be very, very, very severe, but we don’t want to get there.” He refused to back a court order that police evict the veterans.

Meanwhile, Britain said at the weekend that it had prepared contingency plans to take some 20,000 white Zimbabweans, many of whom hold British citizenship, if the need arises.