Military

DATE=11/27/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE= IVORY COAST/ TALKS (L-O)

NUMBER=2-310285

BYLINE=SARAH SIMPSON

DATELINE=ABIDJAN

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Ivory Coast's president, Laurent Gbagbo, says he will go to Mali on Friday as part of his regional effort to improve bilateral relationships and revive the stalled peace process in Ivory Coast. Mr. Gbagbo met with his Burkinabe counterpart Wednesday, and the two agreed on new initiatives to calm regional tensions. Sarah Simpson reports from the V-O-A West Africa bureau in Abidjan.

TEXT: Regional discussions to revive the peace process in Ivory Coast are to continue Friday, when President Gbagbo is expected to visit the Malian capital of Bamako for a meeting with President Amadou Toumani Toure.

On Wednesday, President Gbagbo met in Burkina Faso with his counterpart, Blaise Compaore, whom he had previously accused of assisting rebel forces that occupy the north of his country.

Mr. Compaore has made similar accusations against President Gbagbo, after a failed coup plot was uncovered in Burkina Faso last month.

But the two presidents said after their meeting they made a commitment to implement new initiatives to get the peace process back on track in Ivory Coast.

Fighting in Ivory Coast has had a negative effect on the entire region. Mali and Burkina Faso, which share borders with Ivory Coast, say their economies have declined, and their citizens have been subjected to hardship.

Millions of Malians and Burkinabes who used to work in Ivory Coast were forced to flee the country when immigrant workers became subject to persecution.

Rebels in the north of Ivory Coast, known as the New Forces, withdrew from a government of reconciliation in September, accusing President Gbagbo of failing to implement a January peace deal. (SIGNED)

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