CHINHOYI, Zimbabwe (AP):

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said yesterday that land seizures would continue, and he called for the country's last white farmers to leave.

Mugabe was addressing supporters at a celebration marking his 85th birthday in Chinhoyi, 60 miles (100 kilometres) northwest of Harare.

"Land distribution will continue. It will not stop," Mugabe said. "The few remaining white farmers should quickly vacate their farms as they have no place there."

Highest inflation

The bash, which reportedly cost $250,000, was held as Zimbabwe's new unity government failed to secure financial aid to rescue the country's collapsed economy.

Zimbabwe faces the world's highest official inflation rate, a hunger crisis and a cholera epidemic that has killed nearly 4,000 people since August.

Mugabe, who turned 85 on February 21, has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980. He was recently forced to relax his grip on power and enter a coalition government with longtime rival Morgan Tsvangirai whom was made prime minister.

Still in control

But the first few weeks of the unity government have been marred by squabbles over key positions and the continued arrest of political activists, leaving some doubting how much power Mugabe is prepared to relinquish.

"I am still in control and hold executive authority, so nothing much has changed," Mugabe told a crowd of about 2,000.