Talks between white farmers and the Zimbabwean government over land seizures and

Talks between white farmers and the Zimbabwean government over land seizures and lawlessness on farms have collapsed in deadlock, both sides said yesterday.
Adrian de Bourbon, the lawyer for the Commercial Farmers Union, said a meeting late on Monday with Patrick Chinamasa, the Justice Minister, had made no progress. Officials at the union, which represents 4,000 white farmers, hoped to discuss with Mr Chinamasa efforts to implement a deal brokered earlier this month by mediators in Abuja, Nigeria, to end violence and restore the rule of law.Mr de Bourbon told the Supreme Court in Harare: “In light of the attitude of the Minister of Justice, it is regretted no progress was made at all.”The court had adjourned a hearing on Friday in which the government sought to overturn a ruling in December last year that its programme to seize white-owned farmland for redistribution to landless blacks was illegal. The court had asked both sides to hold talks on the Abuja deal, reached on 6 September, as a way of resolving their differences and possibly to soften the acrimonious legal case involving the government’s plan to seize 4,500 farms.The State Attorney, Bharat Patel, said yesterday he had hoped that would happen but added, “it seems there is a divide that cannot be bridged”.The deal, put together by ministers of the Commonwealth of Britain and its former territories, called for law and order to be restored in farming districts in return for aid from Britain and other donors.President Robert Mugabe had promised to abide by the accord, but others doubted whether he could rein in violence by the ruling Zanu-PF party militants, who have illegally occupied 1,700 white-owned farms since March 2000.Two weeks after Abuja, militants’ intimidation of farm labourers had led to a shutdown of about 500 white-owned farms. The union said that thousands of farm workers had been driven from their homes and a further 21 properties had been occupied by militants.Mr Mugabe, who left on Tuesday for a trip to Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam before a Commonwealth summit in Brisbane, Australia, on 6 October, is expected to be asked to report to Commonwealth leaders on his compliance with the land agreement..

The Commonwealth summit, due to be opened by the Queen in Brisbane next week, may be cancelled, the Australian premier said today. The Commonwealth summit, due to be opened by the Queen in Brisbane next week, may be cancelled, the Australian premier said today.
John Howard said he was confident that security arrangements were adequate for a summit. However, he said there still remained a risk of postponement if a number of national leaders pulled out due to the international response to the US terrorist attacks. “If the number and influence of those who decide not to attend is such as to pose some threat to the value of the meeting, that may well cause the Secretary-general of the Commonwealth to have another view,” Mr Howard said. Prime Minister Tony Blair may be one of those to pull out because of the US terror attacks and it has been reported that Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott will take his place.

A handful of leaders, including Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohamad, decided before the terror attacks not to attend. Mr Howard said that senior minister this week received a comprehensive briefing from relevant agencies on security arrangements for the summit. “There is no domestic security reason why that meeting should not take place, and it remains my hope that the meeting will take place,” Howard told the Parliament. The Queen and 45 leaders from Britain and its former colonies are due to attend the summit from October 6 to 9, in Brisbane, the Queensland capital. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he hoped the meeting would go ahead, not least because it would be an excellent opportunity to build support for the US offensive against terrorism.. Groupe Chez Gerard painted a bleak outlook for the troubled London restaurant sector after curtailing expansion plans amid fears that tourist numbers will plummet further.

Groupe Chez Gerard painted a bleak outlook for the troubled London restaurant sector after curtailing expansion plans amid fears that tourist numbers will plummet further.
Separately, Groupe Flo of France announced it was seeking a retreat from its eight London-based Caf?lo brasseries on falling sales and dwindling popularity of its steak-frites.Groupe Chez Gerard, which owns the Livebait, Bertorelli and Chez Gerard restaurant chains, relies heavily on tourists to fill its 22 London sites, most of which are in the West End. It blamed the sombre mood following the terrorist attacks for recent tough trading, which comes on top of a difficult year. Shares in the group plunged 13 per cent to 65p, valuing it at just over £13m, down from £35m earlier this year.David Williams, the chief executive, denied Caf?lo’s departure spelt more bad news for his more upmarket Chez Gerard outlets, which like Caf?lo specialise in French food. “That’s where the comparison ends,” he said.Mr Williams said the group would not open any more outlets outside London, beyond the planned Chez Gerards at Gatwick and in Birmingham, in a move to conserve cash.Analysts speculated that the group was ripe for a takeover, pointing to the 24 per cent stake that JO Hambro Capital Management had built up in the last two weeks to become its largest shareholder.Chez Gerard reported underlying pre-tax profits for the year to 1 July of £2m, in line with a June warning, against a £2.9m loss a year earlier.

It slashed its final dividend to 1.4p a share compared with 3.1p last year, taking the total for the year to 2.8p. Annual sales from the group’s operations rose 15 per cent to £37.7m.. NMT, the aim-listed maker of safety syringes, is to ask shareholders to support a rescue rights issue after warning that sales have been disappointing. NMT, the aim-listed maker of safety syringes, is to ask shareholders to support a rescue rights issue after warning that sales have been disappointing.
The group yesterday said that it had suffered problems with the manufacture of syringes with retractable needles and needs to boost capacity. Delays to full production of a small-dose syringe are still not overcome, and mean that NMT does not have a full product range to offer to US hospitals.NMT had cash of £10m at the end of June, but analysts believe it could require up to £10m more if it can ramp up production of small-dose syringes.Unveiling a 50 per cent reduction in interim losses to £6.5m, NMT’s chief executive, Roy Smith, said that the group would be able to announce one of its biggest ever sales deals within the next two weeks.