I Coast: Gbagbo to host talks
2005-09-19 21:42
Abidjan - Ivory Coast's president said on Monday he would host a meeting of this war-divided nation's rival factions to decide whether planned October 30 elections can be held.
Opposition leaders and rebels who control the northern half of the country have already rejected the poll, arguing President Laurent Gbagbo should step down and a transitional government should be set up instead.
"I wrote a letter in which I invited everybody to a meeting in Yamoussoukro to assess the situation and see if, yes or no, we'll be ready on Oct. 30," Gbagbo said. "If we decide we won't be ready, we'll publish a new date in conformity with our wish to disarm."
Gbagbo gave no date for the meeting, nor any specific details on whom he had invited.
Both sides have failed to take key steps to make way for the poll, most importantly: laying down arms under a UN-sponsored disarmament campaign that has repeatedly been delayed.
Rebels and opposition leaders also accuse authorities of failing to register voters for the poll. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has also acknowledged preparations won't be completed in time to hold the vote in October as planned.
Many people fear violence whether the poll is held or not.
"Remain calm. If elections don't take place on October 30, the sky will not fall on our heads," Gbagbo said. "If we are not ready on October 30 because the rebels don't want to disarm, we'll find a new date and life will continue."
Rebel officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Rebels, whose long-stymied campaign to oust Gbagbo sprung from a failed September 2002 putsch, say Ivory Coast's constitution dictates that Gbagbo step down when his five-year mandate ends on October 30, unless he is re-elected that day.
Gbagbo supporters say he should stay in office and organize balloting, as foreseen in peace deals signed by government officials and rebels.
The failed 2002 coup attempt in Ivory Coast sparked months of civil war and left the northern half of the world's top cocoa producer in rebel hands. A buffer zone separating the warring factions is patrolled by 6 000 UN troops and 4 000 French peacekeepers.
Both sides have signed a series of peace agreements and committed to elections, bringing an end to major fighting. But neither side has disarmed as required by the latest deal brokered in April by South African President Thabo Mbeki.
- AP