Commonwealth ministers achieved a "total breakthrough" last night in the Zimbabwe land crisis, with Harare agreeing to halt further farm occupations and enforce the rule of law in land reform.
"Yes, there is an agreement. There has been a total breakthrough," Nigeria's Foreign Minister and committee host, Mr Sule Lamido, said. In the text of the conference communique, the Zimbabwean delegation gave the following assurances: no further occupations of farmland; a commitment to restore the rule of law to the process of land reform; a commitment to freedom of expression as guaranteed by the constitution of Zimbabwe and firm action against violence and intimidation.
A conference source said the British Foreign Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, voiced his willingness to put money into a fund administered by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to compensate white farmers for seized land.
Zimbabwe also agreed to an "acceleration of discussions with the UNDP with a view to reaching agreement as quickly as possible". The Zimbabwean Foreign Ministry issued a commitment to invite the Commonwealth ministerial committee to visit Zimbabwe.
The communique said the meeting agreed that the way forward was for Zimbabwe's international partners "to engage constructively with the UNDP and the government of Zimbabwe in pursuing an effective and sustainable land reform programme on the basis of the UNDP proposal of December 2000".
The communique also asked the international community to "respond to any request from the government of Zimbabwe in support of the electoral process".
"The meeting also welcomed the reaffirmation of the UK commitment to a significant financial contribution to such a land reform programme and its undertaking to encourage other international donors to do the same." Self-styled veterans of Zimbabwe's independence war, encouraged by President Robert Mugabe's government, have already seized hundreds of white-owned farms since February last year.
Nine white farmers have been killed. Hundreds of farm workers have been assaulted and thousands forced to leave their homes in 18 months of violence, which analysts link to Mr Mugabe's campaign to retain power.
The communique said: "The Commonwealth did acknowledge that land was at the core of the crisis in Zimbabwe and cannot be separated from other issues of concern to the Commonwealth such as the rule of law, respect for human rights, democracy and the economy."
The UK has stressed that a resolution of the Zimbabwe crisis should include issues of democracy, human rights and press freedoms. Harare has previously opposed this approach, saying it would infringe on its sovereignty.
The host Nigeria, a powerful voice in Africa, set the tone for candid discussion of Zimbabwe with a rare public rebuke of Mr Mugabe's government for its handling of the land crisis.
"Government must not give the impression that it, directly or indirectly, acquiesces in forcible land takeovers," Mr Lamido said in his opening address.
Mr Mugabe's government has identified about 5,000 white-owned farms for acquisition, two-thirds of the 12 million hectares the government says is held by whites. The government has backed the land invasions, saying it is immoral for whites to own the bulk of prime farmland while majority blacks are crammed into unproductive areas.
Mr Lamido said the Zimbabwe government should stop creating the impression that it is "incapable of enforcing its own laws, thereby fostering the image of lawlessness and lack of respect for the rule of law in the country".
Earlier yesterday, a farmers' union in Zimbabwe said at least a quarter of the country's white farmers had stopped work as militants stepped up their campaign of intimidation.