Zanu PF will never forgive ZCC for that involvement. There are voices within ZCC who feel that that association should never have been. We were only invited, and we have a right to refuse to attend. Violence has been escalating in Zimbabwe since February when the government's draft constitution was rejected in a national referendum. Soon afterwards, veterans of the 1970s guerrilla war against white rule began occupying white-owned commercial farms.
Whites own the bulk of Zimbabwe's arable land.
The veterans, most of whom support Zanu PF, have invaded more than 600 farms. The government is widely believed to have sponsored the invasions. President Mugabe has publicly condoned the invasions and refused to implement a High Court ruling ordering the invaders to leave the farms. Dialogue between commercial farmers and the veterans, facilitated by Robert Mugabe's long-standing friend, Catholic priest Fidelis Mukonori, began last week, but the talks have not yielded any results so far, and veterans, together with villagers, continue to invade farms. The ZCC declared that land should be redistributed, but that this must be done in a fair and transparent manner.