Zimbabwe delays payments to farmers

HARARE, Zimbabwe, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Zimbabwe says it will take another four years before it can reimburse thousands of white farmers for expropriated land.

Only about 200 farmers have received promised funds so far. The lands ministry says it has run out of money, the Integrated Regional Information Networks reported.

More than 4,000 farmers lost their land when the government began acquiring white-owned farms to resettle thousands of black Zimbabweans in 2000, the news service said.

A group of farmers of Dutch origin, whose land was confiscated during the redistribution drive, approached the World Bank's International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes this summer seeking $15 million in compensation, IRIN said.