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Britain warns visitors to Zimbabwe on violence

LONDON: Britain warned visitors to Zimbabwe on Monday to be alert for signs of violence and to avoid troubled areas where possible.

But a statement issued by the Foreign Office stopped short of advising people not to travel to Zimbabwe.

Relations between Zimbabwe and its former colonial power have been strained for months, mainly over Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's economic policies, including plans to seize white-owned commercial farms for blacks without paying compensation.

The Foreign Office referred to Saturday's bloody clashes in the Zimbabwean capital Harare, where Mugabe supporters attacked and beat anti-government demonstrators. Police fired teargas to try to disperse the protesters and then to halt the violence.

"Some of the violence was directed towards white people either demonstrating or watching nearby," the statement said. "Visitors should be on the alert for signs of disturbances and avoid these where possible."

The Foreign Office said visitors intending to stay with relatives or friends in rural areas of Zimbabwe should check on the latest situation.

It said threats of violence had been made by hundreds of former Zimbabwean guerrillas who had invaded large numbers of white-owned farms.

British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said on Sunday that Mugabe was flouting his own courts and attacking Britain in a bid to win re-election, but that his tactics would lead only to further isolation.

Mugabe's government is responsible for the dire state of Zimbabwe's economy and he should allow its people to choose their new leadership in free and fair elections supervised by European Union monitors, Cook told reporters at the EU-Africa summit in Cairo.

Britain has contingency plans to help an estimated 20,000 British passport holders leave Zimbabwe if the turmoil worsens.-Reuters