There were no signs of disarmament for the Cote d'Ivoire army and rebels on Monday, when the disarmament was expected to start under a peace deal, a United Nations military spokesman told Xinhua.

Earlier, a government military spokesman told the press that parties concerned were waiting for the outcome of a new round of peace talks between the government and rebels in Pretoria, South Africa, on June 28-29.

The opposition parties issued a statement on June 13, saying that the disarmament process cannot be started as planned since the political and technical requirements for disarmament were not met.

A top disarmament official also said last week that warring parties won't begin laying down weapons as planned and a new date wasn't likely to be known until after the South African talks end.

Army and rebel chiefs in the West African country, which was divided by a civil war in September 2002, had agreed in May to start disarmament on Monday.

But early this month, a series of military attacks broke out in the army-controlled city of Duekoue, causing the deaths of over 100 civilians.

The clashes jolted the country and marked a backslide in an improving political and security situation since a peace agreement was reached in April.

The government and rebels traded blame for the Duekoue bloodshed and both used it as a pretext to avoid laying down weapons under the already delayed disarmament plan.

Source: Xinhua