Annan: I Coast polls impossible

2005-09-09 10:29

Paris - United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Thursday it would be impossible to hold presidential elections as planned in Ivory Coast on October 30 and hinted at international sanctions against the warring parties there.

The holding of the election "will not be possible" because of delays in preparations, Annnan said in an interview with Radio France Internationale (RFI).

"It is not going to be possible because the political leaders and parties have not co-operated," Annan said.

"There are certain things that have to be done before elections in October. We have not even been able to constitute the electoral commission. In practical terms, on a technical level, it is not possible" to organise the election due on October 30, he said.

"I think that sooner or later the (UN security) council will be obliged to act," in taking sanctions against the Ivorian parties, Annan said, in a joint interview with RFI, the francophone TV5 channel and the weekly magazine l'Express.

Since 2002 Ivory Coast has been cut in two with armed rebels controlling the north.

- AFP