Ivorian talks set for April 3

2005-03-27 12:11

Johannesburg - Talks aimed at relaunching the peace process in Ivory Coast will be held in Pretoria on April 3, and are due to be attended by top officials from the divided west African nation, South Africa said on Sunday.

"President Thabo Mbeki will host discussions in Pretoria, on Sunday, April 3 2005," said foreign affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa.

"The talks are expected to be attended by among others, Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, (exiled opposition leader) Alassane Ouattara and (rebel leader) Guillaume Soro," Mamoepa said in a statement, issued in Pretoria.

Former Ivorian president Henry Konan Bedie was also expected to attend the talks with Mbeki, the African Union mediator in the crisis which has divided the world's top cocoa producer since an uprising in September 2002 boiled over into civil war.

"In persuance of his mandate, President Mbeki has held numerous discussions with leaders of various political formations in the Ivory Coast," said Mamoepa.

"These discussions have led to the development of a roadmap for peace in the Ivory Coast," he said.

Mbeki wrapped up a peace-making trip to the Ivory Coast in early December with proposals including key political reforms to put the former regional powerhouse back on the road to political and economical stability.

Ivorian leaders including Gbagbo, Ouattara, Soro and Bedie confirmed last week they planned to travel to South Africa, the first major face-to-face talks since the Linas-Marcoussis and Accra peace discussions on the restive country.

The agreements were signed first at Marcoussis, in France in January 2003 to bring rebel leaders into a unity government and another agreement was signed in the Ghanaian capital Accra in July last year.

One of Mbeki's proposals in December was an agreement on the need for legislative reforms in the former French colony including the contentious Article 35, which requires presidential candidates to have both "a father and mother of Ivorian origin".

Lingering questions about Ouattara's parentage have prevented him from standing in elections, and would do so again in polls set for October.

Hoping to inhibit the candidacy of his chief rival at the polls, Gbagbo has championed a popular referendum to decide the issue, using outdated voter rolls that exclude a large portion of Ouatarra's supporters - the northern descendants of economic migrants barred from becoming citizens and owning land.

- AFP