Cote d'Ivoire's President Laurent Gbagbo and Prime Minister
Charles Konan Banny respectively expressed welcome to rebel leader
Guillaume Soro's return to join the new interim government at a
cabinet meeting on Wednesday, said a government spokesman.
The president and prime minister also hoped all political forces
in the country could work together to end country's three-year-long
political and military crisis, said the spokesman.
Gbagbo said that Banny's appointment as the country's new prime
minister and two major rebel leaders' return from exile as well as
Soro's comeback marked significant boosts for the restoration of
the peace process in the country, saying the settlement of the
country's crisis needs the joint efforts of all the people and
political forces in the country.
After his meeting with Soro, the president gave important
instructions to government troop leaders, asking them to resume
talks with opposition military leaders and solve all military
issues related to the peace process.
He also expressed appreciation for Soro's active attitude
towards the settlement of Cote d'Ivoire's crisis and pledged his
part along with Soro to seek early presidential and parliamentary
elections in an "open, just and transparent" way in the
country.
Soro, who quit the cabinet in October 2004, arrived in Abidjan
on Tuesday to join the new interim government for the first time.
His decision is regarded as a very positive sign for the
restoration of the peace process amid more stable political
situation in the West African country.
Soro, who was named minister of reconstruction in Banny's
cabinet formed last December, came back after the country's rival
parties held a meeting last month under UN auspices.
Cote d'Ivoire has been split since September 2002 when rebels
launched a failed coup and seized the northern half. About 6,000 UN
peacekeepers and 4,000 French troops are in the country to separate
the rebel-controlled north and the government-controlled south.
In 2003, France brokered a ceasefire deal between the two sides.
A government of national unity was formed with rebel heads and
opposition party leaders taking ministerial posts. But the rebels
have not been disarmed and mutual distrust has crippled the
government.
According to UN Security Council Resolution 1633, the United
Nations and the African Union endorsed a one-year extension of
Gbagbo's five-year mandate until October 2006, when the delayed
presidential elections are expected to take place.
(Xinhua News Agency March 16, 2006)
