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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
COTE D IVOIRE: Opposition and Gbagbo to talk peace
ABIDJAN, 28 Jun 2004 (IRIN) - Opposition parties said they will hold talks with President Laurent Gbabgo on Tuesday, in what will be their first face to face meeting since the government of reconciliation fell apart in March, though rebel leaders have refused to attend.
Leaders of the New Forces rebel group, still reeling from an assassination attempt on their leader Guillaume Soro last week, on Sunday accused Gbabgo of stalling for time while he laid plans to launch a fully-fledged war on them and refused to attend the Tuesday meeting.
"We will not go to the meeting because we are not ready to negotiate with Gbagbo," Amadou Kone, director of the cabinet for Soro, told IRIN from the rebel headquarters of Bouake.
Official spokesman for the New Forces, Sidiki Konate, was doubtful of any breakthrough. However, he told IRIN that although the New Forces would not attend the talks "physically", they would stand by any agreements made by other G7 leaders in their absence.
"We don't believe anything will come of this meeting because Gbagbo himself is the main obstacle to peace in Cote d'Ivoire," Konate said.
The G7 is made up of the three rebel groups, now known as the New Forces, and the four opposition parties that signed the Marcoussis peace deal with the government in January 2003.
G7 ministers, who have repeatedly accused Gbagbo of blocking the implementation of Marcoussis, have boycotted that power-sharing government since March after more than 100 of their supporters were killed by security forces and pro-Gbagbo militia while trying to stage a demonstration for peace.
Alphonse Djedje-Mady, the secretary general of the main opposition party, the Democratic party of Cote d'Ivoire (PDCI), and spokesman for the G7 will be attending the meeting.
"One can not implement Marcoussis and refuse to negotiate with the president," he told IRIN.
The agenda for the meeting includes a list of most pressing concerns submitted to the president by the coalition of opposition and rebel groups last March.
The French-brokered peace plan ended a civil war that erupted with a September 2002 rebellion and left Cote d'Ivoire split between a rebel-held north and a government loyalist south.
The announcement of the Tuesday meeting came hours after a 14-member United Nations Security Council delegation visit to Cote d'Ivoire, which warned political leaders and rebels to stop obstructing the stalled peace process.
The head of the Security Council mission, British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, said there would be greater accountability on all sides if Marcoussis continues to be blocked.
Last weekend, Gbagbo met with the Ghanaian, Togolese and Nigerian heads of state to begin preparations for a regional summit to resolve the Ivorian stand-off. An official at the presidential office told IRIN that that meeting could take place in the Ivorian capital, Yamoussoukro "in the coming days".
[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2004
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