Heads of state or government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) opened their delayed summit on Friday in Burkina Faso's capital of Ouagadougou, with the peace process in Cote d'Ivoire on top of the agenda.

According to information from Ouagadougou, 11 heads of state and government of the 16-member ECOWAS attended the opening session, including the leaders of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Mali, Senegal and Togo.

Niger's President Mamadou Tadja, the out-going chief of the ECOWAS, told the summit that the crisis that started in Cote d'Ivoire in 2002 continued to affect the nation and concerned the regional bloc.

Tadja called on the international community and the African Union (AU)"not to stand by idly," while pledging "our brothers in Cote d'Ivoire can always count on us to help them restore peace in their country."

Cote d'Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo and Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny attended the summit, which will submit a proposal to revive the stalled peace process in the rift-torn nation to the AU. The union is set to discuss the proposal on Jan. 29-30 at its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Up to 10,000 UN and French forces are currently deployed in Cote d'Ivoire, which has been divided between a government-controlled south and a rebel-held north since fighting broke out in 2002. A peace agreement was signed in January 2003, but deep differences still plague the nation and have delayed the disarmament process and presidential elections.

The ECOWAS summit is also scheduled to name a successor to Tadja to lead the bloc.

Among others, Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaore may replace Tadja as head of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), reports say.

The UEMOA is an institution that promotes economic integration among eight countries sharing a common currency, the CFA franc. The member states include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.

The ECOWAS summit was originally scheduled to commence on Dec. 22, 2006, but was postponed when clashes broke out in Burkina Faso days before the scheduled start. .

Source: Xinhua