Zimbabwe opposition supporters displaced

Youth militias loyal to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe have pushed 40,000 workers off farms in a move targeting opposition supporters ahead of a possible presidential run-off, farmers' groups have said.

The groups said the move is aimed at swinging votes away from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in a second round ballot. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai won most votes in the first round on March 29.

John Worsley-Worswick, CEO of the Justice for Agriculture Trust (JAG), said: "It's ongoing so they are going to displace more people."

The ruling Zanu-PF party rejects accusations from the opposition, human rights groups and Western countries that it has launched a campaign of violence to ensure Mr Mugabe keeps his 28-year hold on power.

Zanu-PF says Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change has carried out political attacks.

The opposition has not said whether it will participate in the run-off. It believes Mr Tsvangirai won the outright majority he needed to avoid a second round.

But if Mr Tsvangirai does not contest, Mr Mugabe is automatically declared the winner.

Gertrude Hambira, general secretary of the General Agriculture and Plantation Workers' Union of Zimbabwe, said the government was acting as if it were a crime to back the opposition.

"We have had security agents going out to the farms, addressing the farm workers. Some of them saying that we need to discipline you because you voted for the opposition. It's really bad," she said.

Four hundred workers were hiding in the bush and three are still in hospital after being assaulted, she added.

The White House has called for Mr Mugabe and his supporters to end the violence and intimidation against government opponents.

White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said: "This violence and intimidation needs to stop. Mugabe and his supporters need to refrain from this sort of activity against those who are supporting the opposition."

Zimbabweans had high hopes that the election would usher in a period of prosperity and greater freedoms. Instead, an economic crisis marked by severe shortages of food and fuel and the world's highest inflation rate of 165,000 per cent is deepening.

Critics blame the collapse on Mr Mugabe's policies, including the seizure of white-owned farms to give to landless blacks.

But the 84-year-old leader claims sanctions imposed by his Western critics have ruined the country.

© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.

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