Zimbabwe farmer is critical after attack by squatters

As their leader called for British passport holders to be rounded up and kicked out of Zimbabwe, squatters attacked another white farmer yesterday, fracturing his skull and breaking both his arms.

The farmer Alan Dunn was in critical condition at a Harare hospital last night with two skull fractures, multiple fractures of both arms and internal injuries following the attack on a farm near Beatrice, 35 miles south of the capital, Harare.

The squatters' leader and ruling party parliamentary candidate, Chenjerai "Hitler" Hunzvi, stepped up the anti-British rhetoric yesterday by saying British passport holders are not just welcome to leave Zimbabwe, as President Mugabe has previously said, they must now do so. Mr Hunzvi said the British were "ruthless, cunning people". About 20,000 of Zimbabwe's 70,000 whites are eligible for passports from Britain, Zimbabwe's former colonial ruler.

British passport holders who want to stay should apply for Zimbabwean citizenship, share their land and toss their British passports, Mr Hunzvi said.

The attack on Mr Dunn renewed fears among white Zimbabwean farmers of a return to violence after a relatively quiet period. The Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) said four more white farms in the south had been invaded as the country's land crisis dragged on.

Opposition supporters at a rally in the southern town of Masvingo yesterday beat up two men wearing shirts with the logo of the ruling Zanu-PF.

Witnesses said police rescued the two men and rushed them to hospital and detained a Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporter at the rally, which was attended by 3,000 people.