More Zimbabwe farms seized, ruling delayed

updated 1:55 p.m. ET April 7, 2008

HARARE, Zimbabwe - Militant ruling party supporters invaded white-owned farms Monday, a day after President Robert Mugabe urged Zimbabweans to defend seized land, fanning fears he would stage a violent crackdown to retain power.

The invasions happened as the country's High Court delayed an election ruling until Tuesday, and as two foreign journalists were released on bail.

Harrison Nkomo, a lawyer representing the journalists, said their passports are being held and that they are not allowed to leave the country.

New York Times correspondent Barry Bearak, one of the two, has been moved to a medical clinic after injuring his back in a fall in his cell, Nkomo said.

The two were arrested last Thursday and charged with covering the election without accreditation.

Invasions that began Sunday worsened with intruders entering at least 23 farms in southern Masvingo province and northern Centenary, said Trevor Gifford, president of the Commercial Farmers Union.

“In Masvingo where the police have been very cooperative, every time they remove invaders, within five, six hours they’re reinvading,” he told The Associated Press. “It’s very apparent that this is being coordinated from higher up the chain of command.”

Workers were being rounded up on the farms and forced to chant anthems in support of the ruling party, he said, and many of the farm owners had fled out of concern about their safety.

“The farmers are being told that everything on the farm is the property of those invading,” he said.

Tsvangirai in South Africa
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who claims to have won the March 29 election outright, was holding meetings in neighboring South Africa Monday, the same day he issued a call for international pressure to persuade Mugabe to step down.

Tsvangirai flew out of Zimbabwe Sunday evening, said Tendai Biti, secretary-general of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, declining to give details.

South African President Thabo Mbeki, who mediated failed pre-election talks between Tsvangirai’s and Mugabe’s parties, was out of the country Monday.

Zimbabwean electoral officials have yet to say whether Tsvangirai or Mugabe won the presidential election, and the two rivals have adopted sharply contrasting strategies in response.

Mugabe is already campaigning for an expected runoff on a platform of intimidation and fanning racial tension. Tsvangirai says he won, and has demanded Zimbabwean courts and the international community support him.

“Major powers here, such as South Africa, the U.S. and Britain, must act to remove the white-knuckle grip of Mugabe’s suicidal reign and oblige him and his minions to retire,” Tsvangirai wrote in an opinion piece published Monday in the British newspaper The Guardian.

“How can global leaders espouse the values of democracy, yet when they are being challenged fail to open their mouths?” Tsvangirai added.

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