Togolese President to Coordinate Cote d' Ivoire's Peace Talks

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, October 24, 2002

Togolese President to Coordinate Cote d' Ivoire's Peace Talks

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

West African delegates attending ameeting on Cote d' Ivoire's crisis Wednesday named Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema as coordinator to promote peace talks between the government and rebels in the troubled country.

Leaders from Mali, Niger and Togo along with Chairman of the African Union (AU) Thabo Mbeki, also South African President held one-day meeting on Wednesday here with top government officials from Nigeria, Ghana and Guinea-Bissau.

The leaders of Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger and Togo make up a special contact group created by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to try to broker peace in Cote d' Ivoire.

The ECOWAS contact group said in a statement at the end of the meeting that both warring parties should accept the need for "compromise and sacrifice by all concerned" under the ECOWAS coordinative mechanism.

The regional leaders' ultimate objective is to bring the two sides together for direct talks, find common ground, resolve their differences and end the rebellion.

The participants called for the government of Cote d' Ivoire and rebels of the Patriotic Movement of Cote d'Ivoire to start negotiations immediately.

The talks should include the "identification and consideration of the grievances of the insurgents as well as the need of the restoration of the authority of the government of the Cote d' Ivoire throughout the territory, they said.

Eyadema said ahead of the talks that the west African leaders are trying their best to find a solution to the political crisis.

"If our peace is destroyed, it's not easy to rebuild it," Eyadema said.

ECOWAS Executive Secretary Mohamed Ibn Chambas said military chiefs-of-staff from all ECOWAS countries would meet Friday to pledge troops for a peacekeeping force which would be in place within two weeks.

The talks came as loyalist troops Wednesday accused the rebels of violating a west Africa-brokered truce by attacking on them near the country's key cocoa town of Daloa.

State television quoted army spokesman Colonel Jules Yao Yao assaying that rebels of the Patriotic Movement of Cote d' Ivoire on the front of western town of Daloa have launched attacks on the regular army since Wednesday morning.

ECOWAS mediators have brokered a truce between the warring sides in the strife-torn country with effect from Oct. 18, paving the way to further negotiations. But the details, implementation and interpretation of the truce remain undefined.

French troops in the troubled country have been deployed to monitor the ceasefire until the ECOWAS regional force can be sent in to help end the month-long conflict.

As Cote d' Ivoire's former colonial ruler, France has doubled its military presence in the west African country to about 1,000 soldier since the uprising began on Sept. 19.

The uprising, which plunged Cote d' Ivoire into its worst crisis since its independence from France in 1960, has claimed hundreds of lives and left tens of thousands of people homeless.

Questions?Comments? Click here

Cote d'Ivoire Shooting Is Coup Attempt: Top Official

US Troops Sent to Protect Children Trapped in Cote d'Ivoire

China Outlines Future Plans for Expansion of Road Network ( 2 Messages)

China May Have More PhDs Than the US in 2010 ( 17 Messages)

PBOC Forecast Faster Money Growth ( 2 Messages)

President Jiang's Trip will Advance Sino-US Ties: Officials ( 17 Messages)

Historic Achievements Gained in China's Science and Technology ( 27 Messages)