White farmers told to resist Mugabe

Civil rights groups have rallied behind white farmers who have been ordered by President Robert Mugabe to vacate their land by Saturday.

More than 3,000 commercial farmers were urged to defy the orders by black civic leaders, who say Mr Mugabe is violating the farmers' constitutional rights and that food production is crucial at a time when six million Zimbabweans face starvation.

"They shouldn't leave their farms," said Professor Masipula Sitholeof the Mass Public Opinion Institute. "It's high time they should confront Mugabe head on. They have been persecuted enough. Mugabe's government has no legitimacy. The farmers have the moral high ground because they are trying to produce food for a starving nation."

Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, urged farmers to fight on in the courts. He described Mr Mugabe's land seizures as a monumental disaster. "We need land reform but this should be done properly. Unfortunately, the disaster created by Mugabe in this country will be with us for a long time," said Mr Tsvangirai.

Professor Lovemore Madhuku, leader of Zimbabwe's largest civic body, the National Constitutional Assembly, said the biggest tragedy of Mr Mugabe's policies was that land seized from whites was not going to deserving candidates. Heads of white farming organisations also urged their members to defy the order to leave their farms.

The government has refused to compensate them for their properties. But many white farmers appear reluctant to resist, fearing the consequences. In Mutorashanga, 65 miles from the capital Harare, 60 farmers huddled for a group picture at their social club yesterday and some said their last goodbyes. The fertile area is home to some of Zimbabwe's richest farmers, who owned large tracts of tobacco and wheat fields.

Mr Mugabe ordered the farmers to stop all production in June and gave them until this week to vacate their farms.