Britain has given a cautious welcome to an agreement between farmers and squatters' leaders in Zimbabwe that could see an end to weeks of political violence. In an apparent breakthrough, the war veterans' leader emerged from talks in Harare urging an end to attacks. The Commercial Farmers Union said that squatters would continue to occupy more than 1,000 white-owned farms but would not interfere in farmwork. Already, one of the country's chief foreign currency earners, the tobacco auction in Harare, has been badly affected.
One of the Zimbabwean ministers who attended inconclusive talks yesterday with the British Foreign Secretary in London has told Britain it should either put up the money to finance land reform or shut up. John Nkomo said that it was now time for Britain to make good its obligations and stop behaving like a colonial ruler. Britain has said that funds are available, but only if the forcible seizures of land, and the accompanying violence, ends.
Earlier the British Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, said that free and fair elections could not take place in Zimbabwe, if legitimate political activities were restricted in the former British Colony. The police authority in Zimbabwe yesterday invoked special powers to restrict the movement of party supporters and to ban public gatherings that threaten law and order. The move has been criticised by opposition parties.
