Zimbabwe's President Mugabe has warned of chaos if there is any move to enforce a court order to evict black squatters from hundreds of white-owned farms without involving his office. In a television interview, Mr Mugabe maintained his position that he would not intervene in the squatters' actions as long as they remained what he called peaceful demonstrations.
Police have done nothing to enforce a court order made after an appeal by the mostly white Commercial Farmers Union that the squatters, veterans of Zimbabwe's independence war, should leave the farms by last Monday. Britain has accused its former colony of inciting lawlessness by failing to evict the squatters.
War veterans have led squatters onto more than 600 white farms in recent months and have attacked and intimidated white owners. Analysts say Mugabe is stoking tensions over the emotional land issue as part of a bid to shore up power in a parliamentary election this spring. Whites hold about 70 per cent of the land but make up only one per cent of the population.
