Belize suspends eviction of Guatemalan 'squatters'

The authorities in Belize have suspended an eviction order against settlers from Guatemala they say are illegally occupying border territory in the contested Columbia River Forest Reserve.

The Belize ambassador in Guatemala City Moises Cal told Reuter's news agency that the threatened evictions had been suspended pending a meeting of foreign ministers from the two countries on January-the-sixteenth. The talks are also to be attended by officials from the Organisation of American States. The ambassador said the move was intended as a goodwill gesture -- and it's been welcomed by Guatelama.

This latest border dispute arose after a report by Belizean border guards that more than two-hundred Guatemalan farmers had settled east of a buffer zone created by a border co-operation deal agreed with Guatemala in November.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service