African leaders back Gbagbo

2005-10-06 22:00

Addis Ababa - African leaders on Thursday said Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo's could stay in power after his term expires on October 30, giving him up to a year more in office in a bid to resolve the crisis in his divided country.

The African Union's 15-member peace and security council said: "Mr Gbagbo should remain head of state, a new prime minister acceptable to all parties should be appointed by Mr Gbagbo."

Three presidents and a prime minister as well as lower-level officials met in closed-door talks following up on last week's summit of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) after it became clear elections marking the end of Gbagbo's mandate would not be held on time, leaving a constitutional vacuum.

The leaders "reiterated the importance of organising elections on the appropriate date", said Said Djinnit, the AU's PSC commissioner, reading a statement released at end of the meeting in Addis Ababa.

Gbagbo's extended mandate should not exceed 12 months, effective October 31, and the new prime minister will "have full authority over members of the government", the statement said.

Thursday's meeting was attended by South African President Thabo Mbeki, Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo, current head of the AU, Sudan's Omar el-Beshir and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

Other PSC member states sent lower-level officials.

Gbagbo, who said on Wednesday he would not attend and also stayed away from the Ecowas talks in Abuja, sent a representative to Addis Ababa, where the AU has its headquarters.

Some 26 heads of state - from all PSC and Ecowas states - had been invited.

"It is possible that heads of state did not want to attend so that the AU could endorse Ecowas recommendations without too much noise," an African diplomat told AFP.

The cocoa-rich Ivory Coast has for three years been split into two along truce lines patrolled by French and UN soldiers, with Gbagbo controlling the south and New Forces rebels controlling the north and part of the west.

Efforts to heal the divisions have instead spawned further discord, with the rebels backing an Ecowas-led mediation and the president favouring an initiative put forward by Mbeki.

The rebels and the political opposition in Ivory Coast had insisted that Gbagbo quit when his term comes to an end on October 30 - the date initially set for polls - to give way to a 14-to-18-month transitional period headed by a neutral leader.

But the president rejected the proposal, insisting that he can only step down after elections are held.

- AFP