But in the capital Harare there was little sign of an end to the political tension as riot

But in the capital, Harare, there was little sign of an end to the political tension, as riot police sealed the city centre for several hours. Morgan Tsvangirai, the 48-year-old leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) told a meeting of more than 1,000 at the Methodist Central Hall in Westminster: "We want you to participate in the political processes of your own country We want you to come back home. The battle is not outside, the battle is in the changes at home.''Zimbabwean nationals living in Britain - many young professionals likely to support the MDC - are not expected to have the right to vote in forthcoming parliamentary elections unless they travel home.Amid growing concern that the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) intends to stage violent clashes implicating the MDC, the opposition party and democracy activists cancelled plans for a rally in Harare yesterday and staged one in the second city, Bulawayo, in the south of the country.Despite reports yesterday that government-inspired squatters were leaving some of the 500 farms they have occupied since February, there were more attacks on whites.Last night, a farmer's wife from Marondera, east of Harare, telephoned the Independent on Sunday and said her husband, David, a man called Gary Luke, and possibly some children had been taken hostage by people calling themselves veterans, and driven to Murewa, 40 miles away.The Swedish-born woman, Maria Stevens, said one white farmer, John Osborne, had been severely beaten and is in hospital in Marondera.She said calling a journalist was "her only contact with the outside world'' because the police are partisan, and added: "I was returning to the farm from Harare when I was told they had been taken and John had been beaten."We have been ordered to leave our farms and premises tonight and nobody is allowed to stay.''Despite the interpretation by Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook that President Mugabe's CNN television interview on Friday contained more moderate language than of late, there was no sign in Zimbabwe of a softening of tactics.Yesterday, the war veterans' leader, Dr Chenjirai "Hitler'' Hunzvi, told the Zanu-PF gathering in Harare that only President Mugabe had the authority to order invaders to leave the farms.The state news agency, Ziana, says he told the closed meeting: "Even if I had the power it would be against my conscience. I did not send them there and I cannot and I will not withdraw them.''President Mugabe, 76, will next have an opportunity to a order a withdrawal of the occupants - and possibly a date for the delayed elections - in a television address expected to mark Tuesday's 20th anniversary of the end of white rule.He is expected to return to Zimbabwe today after attending a third world leaders' conference in Havana, Cuba.. In the latest development in Zimbabwe's government-driven land crisis, up to 60 rural white families last night fled their homes after one farmer was kidnapped in his own Land Rover and three others, who gave chase, disappeared Witnesses said that the three were abducted by police. In the latest development in Zimbabwe's government-driven land crisis, up to 60 rural white families last night fled their homes after one farmer was kidnapped in his own Land Rover and three others, who gave chase, disappeared. Witnesses said that the three were abducted by police. Late last night, the whereabouts of David Stevens, a white farmer active in opposition politics, and of the three other farmers in the Virginia farming district, around Marondera, 75km east of the capital, Harare, were unclear.Mr Stevens' wife, Maria, said she discovered that her husband had been taken away yesterday afternoon when she returned from the capital.

"I was told that under no circumstances should I go to the farm and that we had been ordered never ever to go back," said Mrs Stevens.As soon as the other farmers in the Virginia district learned of the incident, they decided through VHF radio conversations to take the threat seriously and leave their homes en masse. Mrs Stevens, who phoned the Independent On Sunday claiming she felt safer speaking to a journalist than to the police, said that between 50 and 60 families had left their farms. Many were last night gathered in the Marondera Country Club, anxiously awaiting news of Mr Stevens and the three other farmers. They said a fourth white farmer, John Osborne, who tried to intervene during Mr Stevens' abduction, had been taken to hospital with bruises and a broken nose.Judy Keith, one of those preparing to spend the night at the country club, said: "We know that David was taken in his own Land Rover There was a car in front and another behind. The three who followed them headed towards Murehwa but the police will not tell us if they are locked up, nor if they know where David is. We are all terrified and do not know what to do next."It was not clear last night who had issued the threat which led to all farms in Virginia being evacuated but Mrs Keith said local police had encouraged the farmers to leave their homes.The Marondera area has been particularly volatile since land occupiers, spearheaded by liberation war veterans, began moving on to farms in central Zimbabwe in February.In Harare, there was little sign of an end to political tension, as riot police sealed the city centre for several hours and the war veterans' leader, Chenjirai "Hitler'' Hunzvi, told a gathering of the ruling party, Zanu-PF, that only President Robert Mugabe had the authority to order invaders to leave the farms.Mr Mugabe, 76, will next have an opportunity to a order a withdrawal of the occupants - and possibly a date for the delayed elections - in a television address expected to mark Tuesday's 20th anniversary of the end of white rule.

He is expected to return to Zimbabwe today after attending a third world leaders' conference in Havana, Cuba.Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's main opposition leader, on a visit to Britain, yesterday urged his compatriots to return home to help oust Mr Mugabe. The 48-year-old leader of the Movement for Democratic Change told a meeting of more than 1,000 at the Methodist Central Hall in Westminster: "We want you to participate in the political processes of your own country We want you to come back home. The battle is not outside, the battle is in the changes at home.''. Squatters occupying white-owned land in Zimbabwe have shot a white farmer dead, farm leaders said last night. Squatters occupying white-owned land in Zimbabwe have shot a white farmer dead, farm leaders said last night. Four neighbours who went to help him have been abducted and their fate is not known.David Stevens was kidnapped from his occupied property near Macheke, 75 miles east of Harare, the capital, and driven into the bush where he was shot dead, said Commercial Farmers Union officials.He is the first white farmer to be killed in the confrontation between landowners and squatters backed by President Robert Mugabe's ruling party.A fifth neighbour, John Osborne, witnessed the shooting of Mr Stevens, the farmers officials said. He was beaten up by Mr Stevens' attackers and was being treated in a hospital in Marondera.Up to 60 rural white families had last night fled their homes after the murder of Mr Stevens and the disappearance of their neighbours. Witnesses said that the missing four were abducted by police.Mr Stevens' wife, Maria, said she discovered that her husband had been taken away yesterday afternoon when she returned from the capital.

"I was told that under no circumstances should I go to the farm and that we had been ordered never ever to go back," she said.As soon as the other farmers in the Virginia district learned of the incident, they decided through VHF radio conversations to take the threat seriously and leave their homes en masse. Mrs Stevens, who phoned the Independent On Sunday claiming she felt safer speaking to a journalist than to the police, said that between 50 and 60 families had left their farms. Many were last night gathered in the Marondera Country Club.Judy Keith, one of those preparing to spend the night at the country club, said: "We know that David was taken in his own Land Rover There was a car in front and another behind. The three who followed them headed towards Murehwa but the police will not tell us if they are locked up, nor if they know where David is.

We are all terrified and do not know what to do next."It was not clear last night who had issued the threat which led to all farms in Virginia being evacuated but Mrs Keith said local police had encouraged the farmers to leave their homes.Earlier, former guerrillas in the war that led to majority rule in Zimbabwe vowed to continue their takeovers of white-owned farms, defying a High Court ruling.In Harare, there was little sign of an end to political tension, as riot police sealed the city centre for several hours and the war veterans' leader, Chenjirai "Hitler'' Hunzvi, told a gathering of the ruling party, Zanu-PF, that only President Robert Mugabe had the authority to order invaders to leave the farms.. The former UK boss of Ariston and Indesit - and the brains behind the ubiquitous advertising slogan "Ariston.. and on... and on..." - has set up a dot com venture selling cheap washing machines. The former UK boss of Ariston and Indesit - and the brains behind the ubiquitous advertising slogan "Ariston.. and on...