Ex-president returns

Cote d'Ivoire's former president Henri Konan Bedie returned to Abidjan on Monday following an invitation by the Ivorian government to attend a national reconciliation conference. Bedie fled to France after being ousted in December 1999 by the military in the country's first coup d'etat. Bedie's return could mark a positive development in the country's socio-political crisis, according to a political analyst.

"His return would contribute to lessening political tensions" Ouraga Obou, dean of the faculty of law and political science at the University of Abidjan, told IRIN on Tuesday. It is also a positive development with regard to Cote d'Ivoire's National Reconciliation Forum as Bedie has been absent from the talks which opened last week, he added. It is still not certain when Bedie will attend the Forum but negotiations are ongoing for an eventual participation. Negotiations are also continuing to have opposition leader Alassane Ouattara and former military ruler General Robert Guei attend the Abidjan talks, Ouraga said. Guei replaced Bedie as leader and ruled from December 1999 to October 2000.

The forum, aimed at finding solutions to the country's main political and social problems, entered its second week of presentations on Monday with presentations from NGOs and trade organisations. The forum is due to end on 10 December.