Cote d'Ivoire's army and rebels agreed in Yamoussoukro on Saturday to begin a national disarmament campaign on June 27, in a big boost to ending a bloody civil war lasting for three years. "The operations of DD (disarmament and demobilization) will run from June 27 to Aug. 10, 2005," said Alain Richard Donwahi, head of the National Disarmament Committee, who signed the accord together with army chief Philippee Mangou and rebel chief of staff Soumaila Bakayoko.

The two sides should begin regrouping and registration on June 5 and finish on June 26, and actual disarmament is due to start on June 27 and finish on Aug. 10, said Donwahi Yamoussoukro, the country's political capital.

"The work was difficult, and it took place sometimes under pressure," Donwahi said. "But the results were convincing."

The two warring parties in the tiny West African country also hailed the pact, which was reached after a series of talks over the past two weeks.

"I am very satisfied ... I am hopeful for the future," said army chief Mangou. Morou Ouattara, a rebel commander who took part in the talks, said his party has decided to bring peace back to the country.

"We have decided to make peace between the two sides and that is why we have signed," he said.

At the signing ceremony, Prime Minister Seydou Diarra said that this time there was no going back.

"The peace process is on an irreversible path," he said.

Cote d'Ivoire, the world's leading cocoa producer, has been split between the north, held by the rebels, and the south, under the control of government forces, since a coup attempt against President Laurent Gbagbo failed in September 2002.

A peace deal was signed in January 2003 but never fully implemented. The accord signed in South Africa in April, which was meant to end civil war and pave the way for presidential elections in the country, raised hopes for a breakthrough in the war.

At the talks in April, the army and rebels agreed to end hostility and study a proposal from the national disarmament committee to start disarmament on May 14. The two sides said then that they would set a date for disarmament at talks in Yamoussoukro.

Source: Xinhua