September 06 2001
Harare – War veterans wielding axes and knives tried to evict former Rhodesian prime minister Ian Smith from his farm in central Zimbabwe but police intervened, a family member said on Wednesday.

“There was a problem at the farm about two days ago when some war veterans came onto the farm and threatened him but he was not harmed,” said the family member, who declined to be named.

“When I spoke to him yesterday they had left because the police intervened. He’s back at his house in Harare today. I’m not sure what the situation at the farm is like, the war veterans might be back there,” he added.

Smith was not immediately available for comment. Immediate police comment was also not available.

Smith called on Mugabe to resign
Eighty-year-old Smith has accused President Robert Mugabe, who took over from him in 1980, of stirring up racial hatred against white farmers, many of whose properties Mugabe wants for black resettlement.

Smith, who divides his time between a house in Harare and his cattle farm in Shurugwi, led 250 000 white Rhodesians in declaring unilateral independence from Britain in 1965 rather than accept proposals for black majority rule.

He fought an unsuccessful war against the blacks led by Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo from 1972-80.

His farm was invaded in May 2000 by pro-government militants who have illegally settled on white-owned farms since February 2000 in support of Mugabe’s land reform programme.

Smith called on Mugabe to resign last November for allegedly destroying the southern African country, calling him a gangster and saying he did not think the Zimbabwe leader would remain in power “past Christmas”. – Reuters