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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

COTE D'IVOIRE: Five rebel ministers take up their posts

ABIDJAN, 15 April 2003 (IRIN) - Five of nine ministers designated by Cote d'Ivoire's rebel groups have taken up their posts in a new government of national reconciliation following a weeks-long delay.

The five ministers represent the country's three rebel movements: the Mouvement Patriotique de Cote d'Ivoire (MPCI - Patriotic Movement of Cote d'Ivoire), Mouvement pour la Justice et la Paix (MJP - Movement for Justice and Peace) and Mouvement populaire ivoirien du Grand Ouest (MPIGO - Ivorian Patriotic Movement of the Great West).

They took their oath of office amid tight security in the economic capital Abidjan. The portfolios they hold are: territorial administration; technical education and professional training; scientific research; crafts and the informal sector; and small businesses.

The government of national reconciliation was formed by virtue of a January pact between Cote d'Ivoire's political parties and rebel movements in Linas-Marcoussis, France, and a follow-up agreement in Ghana in March.

President Laurent Gbagbo's Front populaire ivoirien (FPI-Ivorian Popular Front) occupies 10 cabinet posts. The Parti democratique de Cote d'Ivoire (PDCI, headed by former president Henri Konan Bedie), the opposition Rassemblement des Republicains (RDR, led by former prime minister Alassane Ouattara) and the MPCI each has seven cabinet posts.

Seven posts are shared by smaller political parties, the MJP and MPIGO.

The five ministers representing the rebels who took up their posts on Monday are civilians. Security has been cited as the reason for why the remaining four - who are military men - have refused to travel to Abidjan, the economic capital and headquarters of most government institutions.

Themes: (IRIN) Conflict, (IRIN) Governance

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