I Coast rebels have peace plan

2004-12-14 15:11

Abidjan - Ivory Coast's rebels have drafted a plan to resolve the west African state's long-running crisis and will soon present it to South African President Thabo Mbeki, the African Union's chief mediator in the conflict, rebel leaders said on Tuesday.

"We have resolved to travel as soon as possible to South Africa to present this document to (President) Thabo Mbeki," the rebels said in a statement from their stronghold Bouake, following a three-day meeting.

The meeting with Mbeki would be the rebels' third since early November, when the African Union named the South African leader as its mediator in the Ivory Coast crisis after Ivorian government planes bombed key positions in the rebel-held north, in violation of an 18-month-old ceasefire.

"We have analysed the proposals made by President Mbeki with the solemnity that these circumstances dictate," the rebel statement said.

Expected UN vote

"(In response) we have adopted a plan that outlines our solutions to relaunch the peace process, the goal of which is a durable peace born from free, fair and accessible elections."

After travelling in early December to Ivory Coast for talks with President Laurent Gbagbo and the rebels, Mbeki drafted a four-part plan to end the crisis by reviving a peace pact signed in January 2003, but has remained largely dormant since then.

The most important progress made by Mbeki in bringing peace to Ivory Coast, observers said, was the commitment he secured from Gbagbo's government to loosen constitutional restrictions eligibility for presidential candidates.

Mbeki has also invited representatives from across the Ivorian political spectrum for consultations in South Africa, including exiled former prime minister Alassane Ouattara, in a bid to stave off a return to conflict that many analysts and African leaders fear could destabilise volatile west Africa.

The rebel announcement came a day ahead of an expected United Nations Security Council vote on whether to impose targeted sanctions, including a travel ban and assets freeze, on key players in Ivory Coast's crisis.

The Security Council voted Monday to maintain a 13-month embargo on arms sales to Ivory Coast that was imposed in November.

- AFP