A special Commonwealth committee on Zimbabwe has failed to agree on new sanctions against President Robert Mugabe.

Australia was of the opinion that Zimbabwe should be fully suspended from the Commonwealth with immediate effect

John Howard

The Commonwealth "troika" - including the leaders of South Africa, Nigeria, and Australia - had a mandate to approve a tougher stance against the Harare government at talks in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said he was in favour of the full suspension of Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth.

But Presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria took an opposing view - saying that moves towards political reform in Zimbabwe would be monitored in the next six months.

Regret

The BBC's Dan Isaacs in Abuja says the gap between the leaders was a chasm rather than a difference of opinion.

A lot of hard thinking now needs to be done in the wider Commonwealth, he says, as to how to present a united front and avoid the impression of indecision.

Mr Howard said he had pressed for Zimbabwe's immediate suspension, but his colleagues had a "different view" which they had held to strongly.

In March the Commonwealth suspended Zimbabwe from its councils for a year, following Mr Mugabe's controversial re-election.

Mugabe refused to attend the meeting

At the time, the Commonwealth said the poll was "carried out in an atmosphere of intimidation" and "did not reflect the views of the Zimbabwean people."

After the Abuja talks, all three leaders expressed their disappointment that Mr Mugabe had refused to attend the meeting.

In a joint statement, they said they deeply regretted that the process of reconciliation had stalled in Zimbabwe.

Since March the forced eviction of white farmers from their land has gathered pace, and there has been no sign of political reform.

Travel ban

Last week Zimbabwe's parliament adopted new legislation making evictions easier.

Mugabe's supporters have been occupying farns

It will force farmers to leave their land within a week of being served eviction notices, rather than the 90-day deadline previously in place.

Many farmers had used the 90 days to appeal against their eviction orders, many of which were subsequently annulled by the High Court.

Under the new law, these cancelled eviction orders can be reissued.

Zimbabwe's opposition has called the changes unconstitutional, saying they effectively deny farmers the protection of the courts

The European Union has imposed a travel ban on senior Zimbabwean officials throughout the EU.

Any assets they hold have also been frozen.

The EU's action has welcomed by Zimbabwe's opposition, but condemned as racist by the government.