Mbeki's Ivory Coast peace mission
Matome Sebelebele
6 December 2004
President Thabo Mbeki was due to return on Monday from the Ivory Coast, where he has been meeting key political leaders to help find peace in the conflict-ridden west African country.
Mbeki held meetings with Ivorian Prime Minister Seydou Diarra as well as President Laurent Gbagbo a day after his arrival in Ivory Coast on an African Union-sanctioned peace mission last Thursday.
On Monday he was due to give the two, as well as Speaker of Parliament Mamadou Koulibaly, a report back with on his discussions with New Forces (FN) rebel leader Guillaume Soro. Mbeki met with Soro in Bouake at the weekend.
Conflict erupted in the world leading cocoa-producing nation when rebels staged an uprising against Gbagbo two years ago, effectively splitting the country into a Muslim-dominated rebel north and Christian government-held south.
The rebels accused Gbagbo of disenfranchising the Muslim-dominated north.
In a recent development, the
country was again plunged into crisis, with looting and violence against French nationals, following a government-led air offensive on rebel-held targets.
The renewed conflict had African leaders worried at the failure of the signatories to implement the Accra III Agreement.
The agreement, signed by representatives of all political parties and rebel movements in Ivory Coast, spells out key dates for the implementation of a peace accord in the divided nation.
Mbeki, seen by both sides as "the only peace guarantee", has since called for an end to hostilities, holding talks with both rebel and government leaders to find common ground between them.
Source: BuaNews
| 
