White farmers in Zimbabwe must shoulder the blame: Swedish writer

White farmers in Zimbabwe must shoulder the blame for the plight of Zimbabwe, according to one of the world's best-selling authors.

Henning Mankell, creator of the Wallander detective series, has lived in Africa for the past 25 years. The Swedish writer is known for his strident political views and told an audience at Hay that Robert Mugabe should not be painted as the sole villain of the piece.

Since 2000, Mugabe has systematically seized land from the country's white farmers, precipitating the country's economic collapse.

In a provocative talk, Mankell said: "In the early 1980s, every year Mugabe went and talked to white farmers and said, 'It's necessary for us to sit down and talk about the farms here'. And the reaction he got from white farmers was absolutely none. He tried year after year after year, and the only thing he was met by was arrogance. In the end, it became a very bad situation.

"I think when history is written, the white farmers at the beginning of the 1980s also have to take responsibility and blame for what really happened. Otherwise, when history is written people will believe that Mugabe was always crazy. He was not.

"Of course, today I hope that someone takes him out of the position he's in because he is destroying the country. But if white farmers had listened to him at the start of the 1980s, I think the situation for Zimbabwe would have been much better."

Mankell is also a noted pro-Palestinian activist and was on the Gaza flotilla that was attacked by Israeli forces in May last year, leaving nine activists dead.

Despite the risks, he plans to join another flotilla this year. "I can tell you there will be another flotilla and I will go with it again because the Palestinians need all the support we can give them," he said.

"There will be some politicians on board. There are no politicians from Britain yet but I can assure you we could find space for them."

Mankell's fictional detective was brought to life by the BBC in a series starring Kenneth Branagh. The 63-year-old author said he was exasperated by literary critics who dismissed crime writing as a lesser form of writing.

He said: "It's a bit embarrassing that I have to explain to these guys that crime fiction is one of the oldest literary genres that exists. Go back 2,000 years to Greece and a story called Medea - a woman who murders her two children out of jealousy for her husband. If that's not a crime story, I don't know what is."