COTE D IVOIRE-SOUTH AFRICA: Rebel leaders in Pretoria for talks

Subject: COTE D IVOIRE-SOUTH AFRICA: Rebel leaders in Pretoria for talks
Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 12:45:17 -0700

COTE D IVOIRE-SOUTH AFRICA: Rebel leaders in Pretoria for talks

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]


JOHANNESBURG, 11 November (IRIN) - Ivorian rebel leaders arrived in the
South African capital, Pretoria, on Thursday to hold talks on their
country's political crisis, a senior government official told IRIN.

"The leaders will present their viewpoint on the situation in Cote
d'Ivoire to President Thabo Mbeki later this evening [Thursday], until he
[Mbeki] leaves for PLO [Palestine Liberation Organisation] leader Yasser
Arafat's funeral. The talks can resume after the president returns from
the funeral, if required," said Mbeki's spokesman, Bheki Khumalo.

In a communique released on Sunday, the African Union (AU) called on Mbeki
to "undertake an urgent mission" to resolve the Ivorian crisis.

Foreign governments have begun airlifting their citizens out of the
country. Violence erupted last week in Cote d'Ivoire's commercial capital,
Abidjan, after France destroyed the air force of its former colony. The
French attack followed the deaths of nine French peacekeepers and one
American civilian in an air raid on the rebel town of Bouake.

Mbeki flew into Cote d'Ivoire earlier this week to hold talks with
president Gbagbo. "The president has submitted a report on his talks with
the Ivorian president to the AU yesterday [Wednesday]. He will submit yet
another report on his talks with the opposition to the AU," Khumalo said.

Guillaume Soro, leader of the Ivorian rebels, known as the New Forces, and
Alassane Ouatarra, head of the Rally for Republicans Party, are among
leaders scheduled to meet with Mbeki.

The rebel delegation also includes Noel Nemin, president of the
Constitutional Council, and Alphonse Djedje Mady, secretary general of the
Democratic Party of Ivory Coast.

The West African country has been split into a rebel-held north and a
government-controlled south since September 2002, with around 10,000
peacekeepers from the UN and France standing guard in a buffer zone
between the two sides.



[ENDS]

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