African nations end boycott of U.N. climate talks

An Egyptian couple chat at the top of a mountain area that looks over Cairo during a smoggy day July 12, 2008

BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - African nations agreed on Tuesday to resume work on a new U.N. climate pact after a day-long boycott of the 175-nation negotiations, the chair of the talks said.

"We were able to arrive at a solution," John Ashe, the head of a group chairing talks among parties to the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol, told delegates.

The African nations were protesting at what they said were inadequate promises by developed nations for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 as part of a U.N. deal due to be agreed in Copenhagen in December.

(Editing by Matthew Jones)