Harare - Zimbabwe's crisis escalated yesterday as gunmen shot dead Mrs Gloria Olds (68), the mother of a white farmer murdered on the same property a year ago, Andrew Meldrum reports.
Mrs Olds' surviving son, David, went berserk upon seeing his mother's body and barricaded himself in the house yesterday, shooting at anyone approaching the structure. His shots forced police investigating the murder to flee the scene. Later in the day neighbouring farmers and a Catholic priest entered the house and convinced Mr Olds to release his mother's body. Negotiations were continuing last night to convince Mr Olds to put down his weapons. The slaying of Mrs Olds, as fresh evidence of Zimbabwe's growing lawlessness, will add further controversy to President Robert Mugabe's visit to Paris and Brussels this week.