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Major Breakthrough In Ivorian Peace Talks

Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo says he will not resign as earlier  demanded by the rebels but he will hold a referendum on the changing of the constitution, which may allow previously prohibited politicians to run for the Presidency. The rebels too have now dropped their call that he steps down. 

But news just coming in says the rebels want Gbagbo to include his concession officially in the Lome agreement. Until then, they say it is not accepted.

Representatives of the two sides have been engaged in peace talks in the Togolese capital of Lome trying to resolve the armed conflict which has divided the country into halves. The mutinous soldiers control the northern half consisting of Bouake, the second largest city, while the government has the other half with Abidjan the nation’s main city. Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema has been hosting the peace talks on behalf of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

One of the key issues of contention the rebels have brought up is the clause in the Ivorian constitution that says only natural born citizens can run for the presidency. Alassane Ouattara, the leading opposition figure in the country, also from the north, was prevented in 2000 from participating in the presidential elections. The mostly southern controlled government authorities have argued that Ouattara, a former Ivorian Prime Minister, is originally from Burkina Faso. An Ivorian high court recently ruled that Ouattara was an Ivorian citizen, but the Gbagbo administration remained silent on the ruling, giving impressions that the matter was not settled.

In the midst of news that the government was about to retire some 700 soldiers, mainly from the north, groups of soldiers revolted across the country on September 19, immediately taking over central and northern cities. There was fighting in Abidjan, but loyal troops quickly overcame the rebels and killed former military head of state Robert Guei, who government claimed was head of the rebellion. Authorities said it was a coup attempt, but the rebels said they were fighting against their pending removal from the army. They  said many of those to be affected had just been recruited into the army three years back.

Fighting raged on until ECOWAS intervened for a ceasefire, and Ivory Coast-based troops from former colonial power, France, were deployed in Yamoussoukro to serve as a temporary buffer between the two sides. A contingent of ECOWAS peacekeeping force headed by Senegal, Current Chairman of the organization, is preparing now to replace the French.

The peace talks in Lome many times ran into deadlock, with each side back home preparing for a resumption of the war. The frustrations of the impasse ran so high last week until Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, visiting France, threatened to take over the matter directly from President Eyadema, claiming there was lack of progress. The Ivorian sides said however they were comfortable with Lome.

With the softening of positions on both sides this week, it is left to be seen how disarmament of the rebels  will be achieved to pave the way for the reintegration of the country, a leading West African economy and the world’s largest cocoa producer.