Ivory Coast leaders agree new peace drive
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-12-07 15:36

All sides in Ivory Coast's conflict have agreed on measures to revive a moribund peace plan and speed up its implementation, South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Monday at the end of a mediation mission.

An alarmed African Union asked Mbeki to step in after a major flareup last month raised the prospect of a slide into all-out war and caused thousands of expatriates to flee a country seen for decades as a haven of stability and prosperity.

All parties agreed political reforms must be implemented, disarmament must begin, a power-sharing government should get back to work and normality must be restored after the violence in the main city Abidjan and other areas, Mbeki said.

"We've agreed with everybody on all of these matters and therefore specific programs must be carried out," Mbeki told a news conference concluding his five-day mission.

The crisis in the West African state began in September 2002, when a rebel movement failed to oust President Laurent Gbagbo from power but seized the north of the country.

Mbeki said his delegation -- including United Nations, European Union, World Bank and other international officials -- had set down timelines for implementing the measures but would not make them public right away.

The team had worked on the basis of the peace deal known as the Linas-Marcoussis pact, brokered last year by former colonial power France, rather than trying to produce a new plan. That may not please Gbagbo's camp, which signed the pact reluctantly.

MBEKI CONFIDENT

A succession of mediators and international conferences has failed to turn all the provisions of Linas-Marcoussis into reality and many Ivorians are likely to be skeptical about the new initiative unless it produces results.

Each side has accused the other of failing to honor commitments but Mbeki insisted this time would be different.

"I'm absolutely certain there is mistrust," he said. "If there wasn't mistrust, it would mean there had been no conflict but I'm quite sure that that mistrust will diminish as people see that everybody's sticking to their word."

The conflict generally pits the richer mainly Christian south against the poorer Muslim north but many analysts say in reality it has more to do with rival politicians vying for the spoils of power and control of the lucrative cocoa industry.

Last month's surge in violence began when Gbagbo's forces shattered an 18-month cease-fire to launch an assault on the rebel-held north and killed nine French soldiers in an air raid.

France hit back by crippling the Ivorian air force, an act which triggered days of rioting and looting by Gbagbo supporters targeting French nationals and other Westerners.

Albert Tevoedjre, the head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast, announced his resignation on Monday, saying he could move on now the peace process was getting back on track.

But the 75-year-old from Benin also said he had made his decision the day the Ivorian army broke the cease-fire.

"That was completely against what we expected the parties to do," he told reporters. "If they are not agreeable to do what they have to do, why should we be here?"

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