Prodi witholds cash, says time is running out

The European Union said on Thursday it would continue to withold 400 million euros (US $465 million) of aid to Cote d'Ivoire until there was real progress in putting the country's faltering peace process back on track, but it warned that time was running out. Roman Prodi, the President of the European Commission, told reporters after talks with Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo that "Time is against Cote d'Ivoire." "There was a stronger international engagement in Cote d'ivoire, but there's a little bit of despair [now]," he added. The UN Security Council, meeting in New York, meanwhile noted that the situation in Cote d'Ivoire "continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security in the region." The rebels who occupy the north of Cote d'Ivoire signed a French-brokered peace agreement with Gbagbo in January and joined a broad-based government of national reconciliation three months later. But the rebels pulled out of the cabinet on 23 September, protesting that that Gbagbo was refusing to delegate effective powers to ministers, and froze plans to disarm. Prodi said he had spoken by telephone to Ghanaian President John Kufuor who hosted a West African summit on Tuesday that tried to break the seven-week-old impasse in Cote d'Ivoire. But Prodi said both he and Kufuor agreed that the meeting between Gbagbo and six other heads of state from the region had been a failure. Prodi said the European Union would continue to withhold US $400 million of aid earmarked for Cote d'Ivoire until progress was made in restoring peace and stability. "We are waiting for the country to make progress, the money is on the table", he said, without elaborating. The head of the European Commission was speaking after meetings with Gbagbo, Prime Minister Seydou Diarra and the leaders of the main opposition parties represented in parliament. Prodi said he still believed that the January peace agreement still represented the best solution for peace in Cote d'Ivoire, which plunged into civil war 14 months ago. Asked about the future of the once-stable country, Prodi said: "I am never pessimistic or optimistic, but I am very preoccupied." The UN Security Council said there was an "urgent need for all parties to participate fully" in the government of national reconciliation and it urged the rebels to return to the cabinet. It also stressed the need to "implement fully the content of the Linas Marcoussis (peace) agreement." The Council spelt out what it meant in some detail. It said there was an "urgent need to begin reforming land law and electoral rules, restore public services and the authority of the state throughout the territory of Cote d'Ivoire and end the use of mercenaries and the illicit purchase of weapons." The Security Council renewed the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Cote d'Ivoire (MINUCI) until 4 February and requested UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to report back on how the United Nations might enhance its role in Cote d'Ivoire by January 10. It delayed a decision on increasing the number of military liason officers attached to MINUCI until then. Annan had recommended that their number be increased from 34 to 76. He had also asked the Security Council to extend MINUCI's mandate for six months, rather than the period of less than three months eventually agreed.