A white Zimbabwean farmer is critically ill after an unknown offender assaulted him with an axe in an attack family members say was politically motivated.
Mr Ralph Corbett, 76, a rancher near the Midlands provincial town of Kwekwe, has little chance of recovery, his daughter says.
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He suffered deep head wounds in the attack at his farm about 125 miles south west of Harare. The farm has been illegally occupied by ruling party militants since last year.
The victim's daughter, Ms Cheryl Miller said the attackers stole a hand gun and cheque from his cheque book. His arms were trussed with wire by his attackers. His TV, electronic equipment and other valuables were not touched, she said.
State-backed militants "are responsible for the lawlessness. They have made it clear they want whites out of the country and this is the way they are going about it," she said.
Last December, three assailants armed with assault rifles killed one of Mr Corbett's white neighbours and seriously wounded his son in violence linked to Zimbabwe's disputed white-owned land.
Meanwhile, Nigerian officials said today they will host talks next week aimed at pulling Zimbabwe out of international isolation over its violence-wracked land reforms, in a meeting with foreign ministers of Britain and four other Commonwealth countries.
"We will be hosting the talks next week," foreign ministry spokesman Mr Adegbo Onoja said, declining other comment.
A state-run daily in Harare today reported that the Commonwealth group would be meeting in Nigeria August 15-17 to seek ways to heal strained relations between Zimbabwe and Britain over the land issue.
The meeting would be the first of the group of seven - Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Australia, Jamaica, Britain and Zimbabwe itself.