Mugabe has pledged to accelerate land reform

He was the tenth white farmer to be murdered since controversial land seizures by supporters of President Robert Mugabe began.

Mr Ford had telephoned the police and neighbours on Sunday evening complaining that he was being besieged by a group of about 20 black settlers.

"The four are from the Norton area," Mr Bvudzijena said of the suspects. But when asked if they were "war veterans" squatting on Ford's farm he said, "we have not gone into that".

Upsurge in violence

The murder was the first attack on a white farmer since Mr Mugabe won the last week's presidential election, beating off a challenge by Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

However, according to the Commercial Farmer's Union (CFU) there has been an upsurge in violence against white farmers since Mr Mugabe's disputed victory.

Most CFU members supported Mr Tsvangirai, who had promised to stop the illegal seizure of white-owned farms and to implement a negotiated programme to remedy ownership inequities instead.

Ford's farm was one which had been designated for seizure and redistribution by the government.

Intimidated by the violent occupations, hundreds of white farmers have abandoned their farms. Many moved into the cities or even out of the country during the election.

Ford's death came the day after Mr Mugabe gave a fiery speech at his inauguration in which he vowed to accelerate his programme of redistributing land from white-owned farms to landless blacks.