Ex-rebels call for poll delay
2008-10-13 10:10
Abidjan - Rebels in Ivory Coast are urging authorities to postpone crucial presidential elections due next month because of delays in registering voters and a failure to fully integrate former fighters into a new army.
The rebels made the call on Saturday after a weekend seminar held in the rebel headquarters town of Bouake.
President Laurent Gbagbo has already proposed delaying the November 30 poll by two weeks and analysts and politicians have also said the nation is not ready.
The landmark vote is meant to be the last step in ending a stalemated war.
The ballot is supposed to help unite the world's leading cocoa producer, which has been split between a rebel-held north and a loyalist-south since fighting broke out in 2002.
- AP