UK seeks action to prove Zimbabwe land deal works

The British government said on Sunday that it hoped the deal brokered in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, would end land invasions in Zimbabwe. It added, however, that the real test of the agreement would be in action and not words, news reports said on Monday. “The deal provides a way forward. The test of that will be events on the ground,” a Foreign Office spokeswoman was quoted as saying.

Speaking just before President Robert Mugabe announced his acceptance in principle on Sunday of the deal clinched with the British government, Britain’s minister for Africa, Valerie Amos, said Britain wanted to give the agreement time to work. Asked if Britain would push for Zimbabwe’s expulsion from the Commonwealth if there was no progress by the time the 54-nation organisation met in Australia next month, she said: “The agreement was only signed on Thursday. Let’s give it an opportunity to work.” She was quoted by BBC radio as saying that “to start to be gloomy at this point in time will not help the process”.