Disputed Peru land laws suspended

Peru's parliament has suspended two land laws that triggered deadly clashes between police and protesters.

At least 54 people, including some police officers, died after violence erupted on Friday between security forces and indigenous protesters.

The laws are designed to regulate investment in the Amazon, but indigenous groups say they will lose control of their natural resources.

They have been demonstrating for months, blocking roads and waterways.

On Wednesday, the head of Peru's single-chamber parliament said it had voted to suspend the land decrees for 90 days.

President Alan Garcia has 15 days to either sign the suspension order or return it to Congress.

The laws are part of a series of recent measures on foreign investment, some of which remain in place.

Opponents had called for them to be overturned.

The suspension order is considered a compromise that could give time for negotiations between the presidency and indigenous groups.

The recent protests were the worst violence seen in Peru in a decade.

Indigenous groups say more than 100 protesters cannot be accounted for.

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