SA has role to play in I Coast

2005-09-21 10:59

Johannesburg - President Thabo Mbeki's office denied on Wednesday that the African Union (AU) has asked him to step down as mediator in strife-torn Ivory Coast.

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo told the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday that the West African ECOWAS bloc and the AU needed to review the situation in Ivory Coast, hinting that Pretoria's mediation might end.

The AU asked South Africa last November to spearhead an effort to try to end the crisis in Ivory Coast, which has been divided since a failed coup against President Laurent Gbagbo in September 2002.

"South Africa had a role to play and they submitted their report to the ... Security Council of the UN... the Council requested that ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) convene to assess the situation," presidential spokesperson Murphy Morobe told AFP.

"Once it has done its assessment it will report to the AU peace and security council. South Africa is available to continue with mediation... It is for the AU to decide," he said.

The African body is to make a decision before October 30, Morobe said.

In a statement issued late on Tuesday, the South African presidency said there was "no truth to the reports" that Mbeki had been asked to step down as mediator.

"It is quite clear that there are forces that are bent on seeking the perpetuation of the destabilisation in the region," said the statement.

"The South African government is nevertheless mindful of the fact that there are significant interests at stake and that there would be elements who would feel threatened by peace breaking out in the region, especially a peace brokered by and large by Africans themselves," it added.

Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer and once a haven of stability in west Africa, has been split in two, pitting rebels from the Muslim-dominated north against the Christian-populated south.

South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad in late August reported that Pretoria's mediation had concluded but was contradicted the next day by a South African foreign ministry spokesperson.

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AFP

- AFP