African leaders put pressure on Mugabe

African leaders, who fear more land seizures will plunge southern Africa into turmoil, are privately urging President Robert Mugabe to exercise restraint towards the thousands of white farmers defying his orders to quit their land.

White landowners are nervously awaiting an important speech by Mr Mugabe today, in which he is expected to make his first public pronouncement on land seizures since the eviction deadline passed.

No official evictions have been made since last Thursday's deadline even though Joseph Msika, a co-Vice-President, and Ignatius Chombo, the acting Lands Minister, have said white farmers will pay the price for defiance and live to regret their actions.

A senior government official said: "There is obviously concern that any mass evictions of farmers would attract more bad publicity and stir negative sentiments around the Southern Africa Development Community region (SADC), which already has all sorts of problems. Concerned leaders have directly or indirectly been in touch with the President. I don't know his reactions to their advice."

The President of Malawi, Bakili Muluzi, who chairs the 14-member SADC, is said to have spoken about the issue to Mr Mugabe, as well as officials working for South Africa's President, Thabo Mbeki.

Farming leaders say that at least 60 per cent of the affected farmers have stayed on their farms. The remainder have either retreated to the cities and towns to see what happens next or else they have abandoned their properties.

Another government official said: "There is a feeling that any mass evictions of the farmers would attract more negative coverage of southern Africa among the white media in Europe. A lot of white journalists have been smuggled into Zimbabwe without official accreditation to witness any mass evictions, and it's understandable if other leaders are concerned about the negative publicity that would follow."

Mr Mugabe has repeatedly shunned any advice from fellow African leaders who have tried to help resolve the Zimbabwe crisis in the past two years.

Presidents Mbeki and Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria have so far failed to persuade Mr Mugabe to go back into "reconciliation talks" with the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change. The MDC accuses Mr Mugabe of stealing the presidential election held on 9-11 March.

Mr Mugabe's land seizures have plunged the country into crisis and many commodities have disappeared from supermarkets. Mr Mugabe blames the shortages on drought but critics blame his land policies for the growing hunger.

Today, Mr Mugabe is due to address an annual gathering at Heroes' Acre outside Harare, a shrine to black guerrillas killed in the conflict that led to liberation in 1980. In the past, Mr Mugabe has used the event to criticise whites. Bernard Chidzero, a former finance minister who died on Thursday and was declared a hero by Mr Mugabe, will be buried as part of the ceremony.