Cheering crowd greets Mbeki
2004-12-05 14:59
Bouake - President Thabo Mbeki on Sunday arrived in the central Ivory Coast rebel stronghold of Bouake, where he received a rousing welcome as a potential peacemaker in the divided country.
Guillaume Soro, head of the rebel forces that have held half of Ivory Coast for two years in a bitter conflict, was at the airport with other military and civilian leaders in the New Forces (FN) movement to greet Mbeki, whose plane arrived at around 10:00.
"We have absolutely no problem with President Thabo Mbeki visiting here today, and with the discussions we will have with him," FN spokesperson Sidiki Konate told AFP.
"He is giving us legitimacy and he is a guarantee in the peace process."
Hundreds of people thronged to the scene, some holding banners in French and English to welcome the visiting head of state but also demand "the immediate resignation of (Ivorian President) Laurent Gbagbo.
Mbeki's spokesperson Bheki Khumalo said that he would hold talks with "rebel leaders including Guillaume Soro, where he will continue to push for the peace process with proposals".
SA troops among forces
Accompanied by their delegations, Soro and Mbeki went on to begin their talks in a hotel in the centre of town, five kilometres distant from the airport. South African troops were among the forces providing security, while South African two military helicopters flew over the crowd.
Mbeki has been in the west African country since Thursday, after the African Union named him as a mediator to try to make headway in a crisis with both political and ethnic roots, which has split Ivory Coast since September 2002.
He has met Gbagbo and members of the ruling party as well as opposition groups and has seemed to secure some headway in hismediation after a government pledge to amend a constitutional provision to open the way for a wider range of presidential candidates.
Mbeki's proposals included starting the process of disarming and demobilising Soro's rebels, the South African statesman said in a speech to the Ivorian National Assembly on Saturday.
Addressing the 210-seat parliament, he pushed for legislative reforms, disarmament, reconciliation between Ivorians and urged preparations for elections next year in the former French colony, once regarded as the breadbasket of the region.