I Coast peace talks postponed

2005-06-20 22:11

Cape Town - Ivory Coast peace talks scheduled for Pretoria this weekend were postponed on Monday because not all parties could attend, said the presidency.

Bheki Khumalo of the presidency said: "We are trying to get all parties down here", adding that a future date had not yet been proposed.

Mandated by the African Union, President Thabo Mbeki had been trying to find a way to end the civil war in the West African country.

He made an early breakthrough on April 6 when he negotiated a peace accord, preparing the way for talks between the warring factions.

The country's rich cocoa growing western region had, however, seen some bloody clashes between rebels and government troops in recent weeks.

'Crime against humanity'

Last Friday, Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo declared he would place the region - Moyen Cavally - under military rule.

Blaming his main rival, Alassane Ouattara, Gbagbo dubbed the clashes a "crime against humanity".

Gbagbo said he had also set up a rapid intervention force in the main city Abidjan, saying "insecurity and violence have become insupportable" there.

He said: "Security is the best way of assuring that elections go ahead as the constitution of our country prescribes."

The United Nations had expressed fears the region could collapse into "a long and extremely murderous tribal and ethnic war".

An analyst at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, Henri Boshoff, said presidential elections scheduled for October 30 were still on track, thanks to Mbeki's efforts.

Talks to 'concentrate on disarmament'

These would be followed by legislative and municipal elections intended to return the country to normality after an abortive September 2002 coup by northern forces that started the civil war in the former French colony.

Boshoff said the postponed talks would concentrate on the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of the army and militia groups expected to start next month.

He said: "The elections will also be discussed with special focus on access to the state broadcaster and the funding of political parties."

In his quest for peace, Mbeki earlier this year advised Gbagbo to allow Ouattara to contest the election.

This move appeased the rebels, now known as the New Forces.

Ouattara was previously excluded on the grounds that he was not recognised as Ivorian.

He was a popular leader in the rebel-held north and considered an icon by the northern Muslim and immigrant populations.

- SAPA