-Caveat Lector- Foot-and-mouth disease strikes Zimbabwe livestock after militants release infected animals By MICHAEL HARTNACK, Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe (August 21, 2001 4:15 p.m. EDT) - Foot-and-mouth disease has broken out among Zimbabwe's livestock after ruling party militants released diseased animals from quarantine in an ongoing effort to destroy white-owned farms, cattle industry officials said Tuesday. The Zimbabwean government said it has halted all beef exports to Europe as a precaution. The disease will cost Zimbabwe's struggling economy at least $40 million in exports, government officials said, deepening the country's economic crisis. Animals who contract the disease suffer fever and blisters on the tongue and lips, in the mouth and between the claws. Many infected animals recover, but the disease often leaves them debilitated. Ruling party militants have illegally occupied more than 1,700 white-owned farms since last year, spurred by a government campaign to seize 4,600 white farms and redistribute the land to blacks. Ranchers warned the government of a looming foot-and-mouth epidemic after the militants broke down farm fences and drove the cattle, including diseased livestock, out of their pens, said Timothy Reynolds, who represents Zimbabwe's mostly white-owned cattle industry. Ngoni Masoka, a top official at the Lands and Agriculture Ministry, said the disease, detected near the southern city of Bulawayo, could be brought under control swiftly. A "large scale farm inspection exercise has been mounted," Masoka said. Trade agreements allow Zimbabwe to export up to 7,100 tons of beef a year to the European Union and up to 5,000 tons a year to South Africa. U.N. food experts have warned for the past year of the disaster facing agriculture in Zimbabwe because of the farm seizures by militants loyal to President Robert Mugabe. The government has targeted 4,600 white-owned farms - about 95 percent of land is owned by whites - for confiscation without compensation under what it calls a "fast track" land reform program to hand over farms to landless blacks. The opposition has accused Mugabe of using the farm seizures and stirring up violence against whites to bolster his popularity at a time of severe economic crisis ahead of next year's presidential election. Pro-government militants in the northern province of Chinhoyi have looted and burned white-owned homes over the past two weeks. Steve Wingate, Webmaster ANOMALOUS IMAGES AND UFO FILES http://www.anomalous-images.com <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
