President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has told leaders of the country's white farming community he will not be deterred from seizing about 1,500 white-owned farms.

He said the farms would be given over to black peasants.

The meeting was Mr Mugabe's first with farming leaders since the Government announced it had drawn up a list of more than 1,700 mainly white-owned farms it intended to seize without payment.

Mr Mugabe has said if the farmers want to be paid for their land the money would have to come from Britain, the former colonial power.

He said this was just the first round of the government's land seizures, saying many more farms might be needed.

Mr Mugabe said meetings would be held with farmers throughout the country and those with "genuine grievances" would be given a fair hearing.

Mr Mugabe: "will listen to reasonable objections"

The government's land seizure plan has created anxiety and near panic among white farmers, who see it as a complete negation of previous promises not to touch productive farms.

The official list of farms being seized, totalling five million hectares, contains some of the country's most efficient and profitable farms.

Economists and agricultural experts have warned the government's plans will result in the complete collapse of Zimbabwe's agricultural industry, the country's biggest single foreign currency earner.

Mr Mugabe, who has been accused of playing for black peasants' votes, said the pattern of colonial land ownership had to be corrected once and for all.

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