Mugabe calls land deal a victory for all involved

HARARE, Zimbabwe (CNN) -- President Robert Mugabe said Sunday that an internationally negotiated deal to pay white farmers for seized land could help bring an end to two years of violence that has wracked the nation.

"This is a victory for us, as a government, but it's also a victory for the commercial farmers, because now they will get compensated, now they will get paid for their farms," he told reporters at a news conference held upon his return from an eight-day vacation in Libya.

Despite the announcement, the strife continued. In the village of Beatrice, an hour south of the capital, a farm named Logan Lee was attacked by about 100 self-styled war veterans who burned a farmworker's house, leaving more than 200 farm hands homeless.

"We accept the deal in principle but it still has to go through the cabinet and the ruling party politburo, but I don't see any hurdles between here and there," said Mugabe, whose usual confrontational demeanor appeared subdued.

Still, he said, "This is not an about-face by the government. We shall continue with our fast-track land resettlement program as before."

Mugabe said he would present the document Monday to the presidents of the Southern African Development Community, who are meeting in Zimbabwe.

The deal is intended to satisfy white farmers' demands for compensation for land marked for redistribution to poor blacks.

The remarks came two days after a meeting of seven Commonwealth ministers in Abuja, Nigeria in which Zimbabwe agreed to end the occupation of white-owned farms and restore the rule of law to the country's land reform process.

Foreign Minister Sule Lamido called that agreement "a total breakthrough."

Britain and other countries have agreed to pick up the cost of compensating white farmers for land that will be taken from them and redistributed to blacks. In exchange, Zimbabwe has promised to drop occupation of white-owned farms.

Over the last 18 months, Zimbabwe has faced a growing crisis as pro-government militants have occupied more than 1,700 white-owned farms. Mugabe had targeted nearly 5,000 white-owned farms as part of his plan to redistribute land he says was stolen by British settlers more than a century ago.

Last Wednesday, Mugabe accepted an offer from white farmers on the land takeovers.

The farmers dropped their legal challenge to the takeovers, a move they say will allow Mugabe to proceed in a manner acceptable to international donors, on whom the government depends to pay compensation for white-owned land.

President Robert Mugabe

The meeting of seven Commonwealth foreign ministers -- from Nigeria, Britain, Zimbabwe, Australia, Kenya, Jamaica and South Africa -- was chaired by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is being credited with bringing the Zimbabwe delegation back to the negotiating table.

It preceded the special southern Africa mini-conference in Zimbabwe next Monday, and a full Commonwealth summit of government leaders in Brisbane, Australia, in October.

There had been mounting pressure for the Commonwealth to suspend or expel Zimbabwe unless Mugabe moderates his policy of seizure and redistribution of white-owned land.

CNN Lagos Bureau Chief Jeff Koinange contributed to this story.