UN special representative presents report to Security Council

The UN Special Repressentative for the Crisis in Cote d'Ivoire, Albert Tevoedjre, on Friday presented his first report on the situation in Cote d'Ivoire to the UN Security Council, the Council reported. The report focused on major developments since Tevoedjre took up his post on 11 January, including the Linas-Marcoussis Agreement [a pact concluded in January in Paris by Cote d'Ivoire's main political parties and rebel groups], the formation of a new government -one of the results of the agreement - and fighting in western Cote d'Ivoire, including in the area of Bangolo, where more than one hundred civilians were killed. Tevoedjre also briefed the Council on the activities of the Follow Up Committee of the Paris Agreement, mandated to implement political decisions agreed in Linas-Marcoussis. The Security Council in turn expressed support for the work of Tevoedjre and his team; thanked France for providing troops to Cote d'Ivoire and expressed support for the ECOWAS troops which have started to take over from the French on the frontline. In addition to thanking ECOWAS for ensuring the safety of members of the government of national reconciliation, the Council called on member states to provide adequate financial and logistical support for the forces. Meanwhile, efforts continued over the weekend to convince the opposition Rassemblement des Republicains and the country's three rebel groups to take up their seats in the newly formed government of national reconciliation. On Thursday, the four did not attend the new cabinet's first meeting, citing security concerns. On Monday, however, the RDR and the three rebel groups assured Prime Minister Seydou Diarra that they would sit in the government. The second cabinet meeting is to be held on Thursday in the capital, Yamoussoukro, 260 km north of Abidjan. Cote d'Ivoire new government has 41 posts: 10 for the ruling Front Populaire Ivoirien (FPI); 7 posts each for RDR, the main rebel group - MPCI - and the former ruling party Parti democratique de Cote d'Ivoire (PDCI). The remaining portfolios were distributed among smaller political parties and two rebel groups operating in western Cote d'Ivoire.