ABUJA (Reuters) - Zimbabwe, in the midst of an economic crisis, has agreed to halt further farm occupations and enforce the rule of law in land reform, but Britain quickly cautioned that ``words on paper'' must be followed by action. (Read photo caption below)
Under the deal announced late on Thursday by mediator Nigeria after one-day talks in Abuja, Zimbabwe agreed to halt the occupation of white-owned farms by landless blacks which has crippled agricultural production and worsened Zimbabwe's economic recession, now in its third year.
Britain in turn agreed to put money into a U.N.-administered fund to compensate white farmers in the former British colony for land taken over for redistribution in an orderly scheme based on willing-seller willing buyer.
The announcement followed talks in the Nigerian capital attended by senior envoys of Britain, Australia, Jamaica, Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe itself.
A communique issued by the Commonwealth ministerial committee said a land reform fund would be administered by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Conference sources said the influence of Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who convened the talks, had been critical in persuading Zimbabwe to shift from its hardline stance on the land issue.
``I am very happy that friends have been able to meet and resolve a common problem amicably,'' Zimbabwe's Land Minister Joseph Made told reporters.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, on his first foreign policy outing in Africa, was guarded on the outcome.
``The outcome will not be determined by words on paper but by actions on the ground,'' Straw told reporters.
PHOTO CAPTION:
British Foreign Minister Jack Straw, right, shares a laugh with Nigerian Foreign Minister, Sule Lamido, during a recess in the talks about Zimbabwe in Abuja, Nigeria, Thursday Sept. 6, 2001. Cabinet ministers from Zimbabwe, Britain and six other Commonwealth nations worked to resolve Zimbabwe's political crisis, with Nigeria's foreign minister urging steps against "racial war" in the southern African nation. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das)