The President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, has confirmed that his government will go ahead with the confiscation of land from many of the country's white farmers.

Mr Mugabe told reporters on his return from a visit to Europe that his government would not retreat in the face of the international outcry.

Britain, the former colonial power in Zimbabwe, has turned down a request to help fund the redistribution.

The minister of state for development, Clare Short, told the BBC Britain was very keen to help support a major programme of land distribution in Zimbabwe, but it must be a properly organised system that would help eradicate poverty.

The BBC correspondent in Southern Africa says that white people, who own seventy per cent of the best land in Zimbabwe, comprise just one per cent of its population.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
 

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