Zimbabwe teeters on the brink, trying to hang on to democracy but heading towards a plunge into violence and chaos.

Just a few years ago, Zimbabwe was widely admired as an African success story for its stable, multi-racial democracy, rule of law and prosperous economy. Now its democracy is threatened by violence, the police blatantly refuse to uphold the law and the economy is in tatters.

The blame for all those problems is widely placed on President Robert Mugabe (76), who is clinging to the power he and his Zanu-PF party have enjoyed for 20 years. Parliamentary elections are expected in May, although no firm date has been set, and even Mr Mugabe cannot ignore the growing unpopularity of his party.

To rekindle support for Zanu-PF in the rural areas, where 70 per cent of Zimbabwe's people live, Mr Mugabe has encouraged his followers to invade more than 900 white-owned farms and claim them as their own. He has ordered police to take no action against the trespassers.

Mr Mugabe has also used inflammatory rhetoric against whites and those who oppose his party. The President's supporters violently attacked a peaceful opposition march of 4,000 in Harare earlier this month. They used clubs, iron bars, bricks and rocks to batter scores of marchers, singling out whites for vicious attacks. One man was beaten unconscious and more than 15 were injured. Hundreds of police stood by as violence was rained on the march. They made no arrests.

The openly partisan actions of the once respected police force worry and upset many Zimbabweans. Ordinary blacks and whites ask how free and fair elections can be held when the police do not protect peaceful gatherings and do not take action against those breaking the law.

Zimbabwe's High Court ruled on Thursday that it would not overturn an earlier ruling that police should evict those illegally occupying the farms. Mr Mugabe has told the police not to take any action but the Commercial Farmers' Union, representing Zimbabwe's white farmers, is demanding that action be taken.

The Attorney-General, Patrick Chinamasa, said that the situation was so dangerous the police could do nothing for fear of setting off uncontrollable violence.

"Any operation by the police would trigger a violent reaction countrywide," said Mr Chinamasa. "It would be a match that would ignite the country into a bloody conflagration. . . The situation is deteriorating to an extent that nothing can be done. That is the sad fact of the matter."

Mr Chinamasa maintained that the police did not have the manpower or resources to take action against the farm squatters. He also defended the squatters, saying that they were acting in defiance of unjust laws.

"The court should refrain from issuing an order that it knows cannot be enforced," said Mr Chinamasa. "We have a helpless Commissioner of Police who finds himself in this situation. The police cannot enforce this law. . . At the end of the day, the land issue cannot be resolved by court orders. It should be left to a political solution."

Representing the white farmers, Adrian De Bourbon said it was a "sad, sad day for Zimbabwe when the Attorney General says that the rule of law cannot be upheld and when the Attorney General says that white people are not entitled to the protection of the law. . . The police are picking and choosing which laws to enforce."

But as President Mugabe has decided to obey neither court ruling, it remains to be seen whether the farmers have any legal options left.

The turmoil over land remains a very heated issue in Zimbabwe. But it is too simplistic to say that Zimbabwe's current land crisis has divided the country completely along racial lines.

Dr Timothy Stamps is white, Welsh and, as Minister of Health, he is one of the most persuasive advocates of President Mugabe's government. He does not think the farm occupations are all bad news because, he says, the current turmoil can lead to a longlasting solution to a long-festering problem.

"I think at last reality has begun to be faced in regard to the land situation," said Dr Stamps in his office. "The current upheaval may well pave the way for a peaceful and progressive resolution of the problem. Land has been this country's most crucial question for 110 years. What is surprising is that it has taken so long for there to be this push for land redistribution."

He cited the fact that smaller groups of land-hungry Zimbabweans have invaded white-owned farms numerous times since 1980. "Each time the government has told the people to wait for land redistribution," he said. "How long can the government's credibility be maintained when people are told repeatedly to wait and nothing substantial is achieved?"

Government critics say that the credibility of the Mugabe government on land has already been destroyed. Leaders of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) charge that in 20 years Mr Mugabe has achieved very little towards establishing an equitable distribution of land. Now, they claim, Mr Mugabe is simply using land and attacks on whites to regain support from the country's rural blacks.

"The current government has squandered the opportunity that has existed since independence to reach a lasting solution to the land problem in Zimbabwe," said MDC spokesman Tendai Biti. "Mr Mugabe has not seriously addressed the land problem since independence (April 18th, 1980) and now he is trying to do it through banditry." Mr Biti, a lawyer who is the MDC's specialist on land, criticised Mr Mugabe's record on land reform. "The hallmark of Zanu-PF's land resettlement has been to put people on land without any infrastructure or assistance. That sentences those people to further poverty," said Mr Biti. "It is imperative that land redistribution increases the farmers' productivity. We do not need more subsistence farmers, we need more productive farmers."

He said the current wave of farm invasions has badly damaged respect for the rule of law in Zimbabwe. "We recognise that land is a crucial issue for Zimbabwe," said Mr Biti. "But the solution is not to grab land illegally. The solution is to develop a well-designed plan that will improve the agricultural productivity of our farmers and improve our economic development."

Mr Iden Wetherell, deputy editor of the Zimbabwe Independent, said; "Mugabe is going for broke".

"He doesn't care if he sacrifices the economy on the altar of short-term political expediency. He doesn't care if he erodes respect for rule of law. He just wants to stay in power. And it will be all of Zimbabwe that pays the price."