DATE=4/27/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ZIMBABWE - BRITAIN (S)
NUMBER=2-261779
BYLINE=LOURDES NAVARRO
DATELINE=LONDON
CONTENT=
INTRO: Crucial talks trying to end the land crisis
gripping Zimbabwe have been extended in London.
British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook is meeting with
three senior ministers from the southern African
nation to urge them to end violence against white farm
owners and allow free elections in exchange for money
for land reform. But as Lourdes Navarro reports from
London, the two sides are finding it difficult to
reach middle ground.
TEXT: A British Foreign Office source is quoted as
saying the talks between Britain and Zimbabwe are
stalled on the key issue of whether Britain should
give financial aid before attacks against the white
farmers in the former British colony have stopped.
Before Thursday's meeting, Mr. Cook said he was
willing to provide 57-million U-S dollars over two
years to finance the transfer of land from white
farmers to black Zimbabweans. But, he made clear that
Britain is willing to fund land reforms and rally
international support for Zimbabwe only if the farm
seizures and violence has ended.
The Zimbabwean team is said to be insisting that the
money be paid before that demand is met.
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe says Britain has a
moral responsibility to pay for land transfers and
blames Britain for his country's current economic and
social ills. (Signed)
NEB/LN/JWH/gm
27-Apr-2000 21:21 PM EDT (28-Apr-2000 0121 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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