VICTORIA FALLS, Zimbabwe — Southern African leaders voiced strong support Friday for President Robert Mugabe's handling of the occupations of white-owned farms in Zimbabwe.
Several blamed the often-violent situation on Western nations' reluctance to finance land reform in the country.
The black squatters on the farms, reputedly led by Zimbabwean war veterans, have said they're trying to liberate land in a country where 4,000 whites own one-third of the productive farmland.
"President Mugabe is dealing with both the farmers and veterans, and this has gotten good responses," Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano said. "We have to call on all parties to calm their nerves and to continue the dialogue . . . because they are heading toward a solution."
Chissano, South African President Thabo Mbeki and Namibian President Sam Nujoma criticized international donors for refusing to honor promises to help fund land reform.
Western countries, including the United States and Britain, Zimbabwe's former colonial ruler, agreed in 1998 to help fund the resettlement of over 100 white-owned farms in two years. They refused to pay for the program, however, when Zimbabwe demanded the resettlement of 1,500 farms.
"The British government should act consistent with the agreement, which it took voluntarily," Mbeki said after meeting with Mugabe in a luxury hotel in the resort town of Victoria Falls.
Mugabe, who sat silently as his regional counterparts spoke to reporters, has accused Britain of reneging on its agreement to help pay for land reform.
Britain, which pledged nearly $55 million for land reform at independence in 1980, delivered nearly 90 percent of that money before freezing the fund in 1990. It said Zimbabwe violated the agreement by forcing unwilling farmers to sell their land to the state.
A constitutional referendum that failed in February would have allowed Zimbabwe to seize white-owned farms without paying compensation. Ruling party legislators voted earlier this month to implement the plan anyway.
Days after the referendum failed, thousands of squatters began their occupations of nearly 1,000 white-owned farms. Zimbabwe's political opposition says Mugabe, his popularity suffering because of an economic crisis here, orchestrated the occupations to gain support for his party in parliamentary elections expected to be held in May.
Many of the farmers are members of the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, whose support extends far beyond Zimbabwe's 70,000 whites. Two farmers with links to the party and two other MDC members have been killed in violence over the past week.
Tense standoffs continued Friday between squatters and farmers, although no new violence was reported.
In Victoria Falls, summit participants also dealt with the war in Congo. Chissano said the foreign countries involved in the war had fruitful discussions and agreed to hold informal meetings in the future to discuss a troop withdrawal.
Rebels took up arms in eastern Congo in August 1998 to oust Congolese President Laurent Kabila from power. Citing concerns about security along their borders with Congo, Rwanda and Uganda backed the rebels, while Kabila enlisted the support of Namibia, Angola and Zimbabwe.