Envoys evaluate Ivory Coast's flagging peace process
Foreign diplomats working to end the political crisis in Ivory Coast went into talks in Abidjan to assess the country's faltering peace process.
The talks have been clouded by a scandal over the dumping of toxic waste that killed three people, poisoned 1,500 and provoked the resignation of the entire government earlier this week.
The opposition and rebels vowed on Thursday night not to take part in a replacement government.
Pierre Schori, head of the United Nations Operation in Ivory Coast (UNOCI), opened the talks by saying "the implementation of the roadmap (to peace) encountered some progress and much concern."
The west African country's presidential election, which the United Nations had originally scheduled to take place before the end of October, inevitably face a delay due to inadequate preparations.
Rodolphe Adada, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Congo, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the African Union (UA), said Friday's meeting "must carry out a lucid evaluation" of the progress or lack of it in the peace process.
The day-long talks, initially scheduled for September 1 but pushed back at the request of Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny, come ahead of crucial United Nations negotiations on Ivory Coast set for September 20.
Schori admitted last month that Ivory Coast would miss its October 31 election deadline due to delays in the disarming of rival fighters and the identification of voters.
While international peacekeepers hold the line between the government forces controlling the south and rebels holding the north, there has been little progress on disarmament, which is seen as critical to avoid fresh hostilities and help reunite the nation of 16 million.
"Ivorians suffer from lack of security in all areas," said Schori, expressing his sympathies to the toxic waste poisoning victims in the commercial capital, Abidjan.
Banny failed to name a new government late on Thursday, as had been expected, but promised to to so next week after consultations.
An opposition coalition which includes the New Forces rebels said were not concerned by the resignation of the government, even though they are members of this transitional administration, set up last year under a national unity plan to hold the country together.
The foreign diplomats meeting in Abidjan on Friday form the panel of experts known as the International Working Group. The group was created last year, after nationwide elections due in October 2005 failed to take place, in order to steer the battered country to new polls within a year.
Friday's talks are likely to end with a statement "reaffirming the international support for Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny's roadmap to peace" according to a diplomat attending the talks.
The experts, meeting for the last time before the high-level UN talks in New York, could also raise, more or less explicitly, the prospects of targeted sanctions against Ivorian political leaders who are seen to be hampering the peace process.
A global think-tank on Thursday recommended the imposition of sanctions on individuals responsible for grave violations of human rights in the country.
Ivory Coast, once west Africa's economic powerhouse and a hub of political stability, descended into civil conflict in 2002 after a failed coup against President Laurent Gbagbo.
AFP
