Zimbabwe church leaders host talks to end crisis

HARARE, APRIL 26: Church leaders will host a breakfast meeting of Zimbabwe's political parties on Wednesday in a new attempt to resolve th...

HARARE, APRIL 26: Church leaders will host a breakfast meeting of Zimbabwe’s political parties on Wednesday in a new attempt to resolve the country’s damaging political and economic crisis, organisers said.

The meeting follows a statement by the leader of the gangs that have occupied hundreds of white-owned farms and beaten farm labourers and political opponents, urging his followers to end the violence so that farm work can resume. Auctioneers said only one-tenth the normal quantity of tobacco– Zimbabwe’s biggest foreign exchange earner– had been delivered for the opening auction of the season, evidence of the disruption the marauders have inflicted on the economically vital farm sector. The Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) has organised the talks in Harare in the hope of ending the spiral of violence sweeping Zimbabwe in the run-up to elections that may end the ruling ZANU-PF party’s 20-year grip on power.

After meeting white farmers’ representatives late on Tuesday, Hunzvi declared victory for the veterans in the battle for land, and urged his allies to "desist from violence so that farming activities are not disrupted", a local radio reported.

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It was not known whether Hunzvi or senior officials of ZANU-PF, whose interests many of the veterans say they are defending, would attend the breakfast. Since President Robert Mugabe met Hunzvi and leaders of the commercial farmers last week, the farm invaders have concentrated their attacks on farm labourers rather than the farm owners, white farmers and Opposition activists say.

VIOLENCE CLAIMS NINE LIVES: At least nine people, including two white farmers, have been killed in the escalating violence. Falling farm output is putting added strains on an already battered economy, where inflation and interest rates are well above 50 percent.

Police say the latest victim was a man identified as Banda, killed on Monday when supporters of the ruling ZANU-PF party clashed with youths of the Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in Shamva, 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Harare. Police say they have arrested five people in connection with Banda’s death, and are investigating other violent incidents. On Tuesday, hundreds of mainly white mourners attended a memorial service in Harare for David Stevens, a white farmer plucked from his home and beaten to death by self-styled war veterans on April 15.

PRESSURE EASES ON WHITE FARMERS, MOUNTS ON WORKERS: White farmers and MDC activists say Hunzvi’s followers have lately eased the pressure on white farmers but intensified their intimidation of farm labourers, whom they whip and club nightly if they suspect them of supporting the MDC.

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"The result is that no real work can take place on the farms," farmer Harry Milbank told reporters visiting occupied farmland in Wedza, 200 km (125 miles) southeast of Harare. The small amount of tobacco sent to Harare for Wednesday’s first auction of the year underlines the depth of the problem.

Auction officials told Reuters they had received around 500 bales of tobacco for auction, about one-tenth of the average expected at this time of year. Tobacco is Zimbabwe’s leading commodity export and a key foreign exchange earner.

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai said no let-up in the violence was likely until Parliamentary elections were held. Mugabe has said he will hold them in May, but political analysts believe he may delay them. They must be held by August. "The pressure on the economy keeps mounting. This violence is not helping the country. The problem is that the government has no commitment to ending it," Tsvangirai told Reuters.