Mugabe vows not to reverse Zimbabwe farm seizures

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said yesterday he would not allow a unity government to reverse his controversial policy of seizing white-owned farmland and giving it to blacks.

Speaking at his ZANU-PF party's annual conference, Mugabe said that while he hoped the opposition would agree to form a coalition government, he would not compromise on policies such as land seizures, which critics say wrecked Zimbabwe's economy.

"We don't want a unity which is regressive," Mugabe told about 6,000 ruling party supporters at this town about 80 km north of the capital Harare.

"The biggest issue is of land... the land has already been given to the people, it will not be returned to whites."

Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai agreed three months ago to form a coalition government after disputed elections, but the pact has stalled as they fight over who should control key ministries.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe has sunk deeper into crisis: hyperinflation means prices double every day and a cholera epidemic has killed more than 1,100 people.

Mugabe has threatened to form a government with or without the MDC, which complains the president is trying to relegate it to a junior role.

Investors hope a unity government would wrest enough control from Mugabe to reverse the policies they blame for the meltdown, and avert total collapse in Zimbabwe. Mugabe blames Western sanctions for the crisis.

Under the September 15 deal, land that was seized from white farmers and now lies dormant would not be returned, but would be redistributed to black farmers with the resources and skills to cultivate it.

In a sign of Zimbabwe's collapse - and its potential - the conference took place in a town that once relied on mining for its economic lifeblood. Those mines have recently been shut.