Zimbabwe Greek held for murder
HARARE (AP) – A white farmer of Greek descent will be charged with murder in the shooting death of one of a group of black Zimbabweans that took over part of his farm, police said yesterday. Spiro Landos also faces a charge of attempted murder for allegedly wounding another settler during a dispute at the farm near Odzi, 220 kilometers (136 miles) east of the capital Harare, police spokesman Oliver Mandipaka said. Landos, 45, was also hurt in Monday’s clash and is being held under police guard in hospital. President Robert Mugabe’s government has seized some 5,000 white-owned farms in an often-violent campaign to redistribute land to black Zimbabweans. Landos had already relinquished part of his property to the settlers, but a dispute arose over the boundary between them, according to his lawyers. His lawyers said he fired a pistol in self-defense when he was assaulted by the settlers. Landos is the second white farmer to face a murder charge since the land redistribution campaign began in 2000. The charge carries a possible death sentence.
