NEW YORK (voa) – The United Nations says its first famine relief shipment has arrived in Zimbabwe, as a food shortage looms in the politically troubled southern African country.
The World Food Program says trucks from neighboring South Africa delivered bags of maize meal — Zimbabwe’s staple food — to the city of Bulawayo on Wednesday.
The U.N. agency has appealed for $60 million from international donors to feed hundreds of thousands of people in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe’s food shortages have been caused in part by political violence that has severely disrupted farm production.
Political violence began in March 2000 when militants loyal to President Robert Mugabe began invading hundreds of white-owned farms. The government has justified the invasions by saying it is the right response to inequitable land ownership left by British colonialists.
The Associated Press reports that the maize crop has dropped by some 75 percent in the two years since the farm seizures began. Opposition to Mr. Mugabe’s policies has grown from his critics as well as from Zimbabwe’s neighbors.
On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he totally deplores what is happening in Zimbabwe, where the Mugabe government is cracking down on the media and political opposition ahead of the presidential election in March.
The British government says it will call for Zimbabwe’s suspension from the Commonwealth — if President Mugabe continues to violate the values of the 54-nation organization.
Southern African church leaders issued a joint statement calling on Mr. Mugabe to resign. They said his departure would benefit Africa. Meanwhile, Washington is warning U.S. citizens residing or traveling in Zimbabwe that conditions there before, during and immediately after the elections could adversely affect their personal safety.
The State Department issued the warning on Wednesday, urging U.S. citizens in Zimbabwe to exercise caution and register with the U.S. embassy in Harare, the capital.
Mr. Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since it gained independence in 1980. He faces his greatest challenge yet in the March election from the leading opposition candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change.
