Mbeki clears diary for talks

2005-04-05 10:16

Pretoria - President Thabo Mbeki has cancelled all his engagements for Tuesday to see the Ivory Coast peace talks in Pretoria to their conclusion.

The discussions, which started on Sunday, involved government, rebel and political leaders of the Ivory Coast, and Mbeki as African Union-appointed mediator.

"We expect the talks to continue for one more day, but let's wait and see what happens," Mbeki's spokesperson Bheki Khumalo said on Tuesday morning.

"They will continue for as long as necessary."

The meeting continued until 23:00 on Monday, and was due to resume at 11:00.

Mbeki was supposed to have met a "big business" working group in Cape Town on Tuesday.

Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, Prime Minister Seydou Diarra, rebel leader Guillaume Soro, former president Henri Konan Bedie and opposition leader Alassane Dramane Ouattara were all present for the discussions at the Presidential Guesthouse, initially expected to last two days.

The Ivory Coast has been split between a rebel-held north and loyalist south since a failed coup attempt in 2002.

The rebellion pitted the Muslim-dominated north against Gbagbo's government, which rebels accuse of marginalising and ignoring their region and people.

A 2003 ceasefire pact has been repeatedly violated.

Last November, government air strikes on rebel held positions set off a wave of unrest leading to the evacuation of thousands of foreigners from the country.

Recently, the government has been accused of recruiting fighters from Liberia and of preparing for new attacks, while the United Nations has warned of dire consequences unless armed pro-government militia were brought under control.

Gbagbo has accused insurgents of stalling the peace process by refusing to disarm.

Constitutional clause

Last week, Britain urged its citizens in Ivory Coast to leave.

Among the contentious issues in the talks to date was a constitutional clause allowing only candidates both of whose parents were Ivorian to stand for president.

This excluded Ouattara from the running.

Also on the agenda were an array of legislative reforms, disarmament issues, the reunification of the country, security arrangements, the creation of a transitional unity government, and new elections.

Last November the UN Security Council imposed an arms embargo on the Ivory Coast, and was reported to be considering punitive sanctions if the government did not revive peace efforts with the rebels.

The South African talks started on the eve of the expiry of the mandate of about 10 000 peacekeepers - 6000 from the UN and 4000 from the Ivory Coast's former colonial ruler, France.

The Security Council extended the mandate by a month on Monday night.

- SAPA