Army and rebels agree to remove weapons from fighters

The Ivorian army and the rebel "New Forces" have agreed to continue removing weapons from armed fighters and to pull troops and weapons back from a ceasefire line that runs from east to west of the country until Christmas day, sources said. The two sides, which held a marathon meeting at the rebel headquarters of Bouake on Wednesday, also agreed to dismantle unnecessary check points. The Ivorian national army, the FANCI and the rebel fighters, started withdrawing men and weapons who had been positioned too close the ceasefire line that is manned by French soldiers, on Saturday. A communique issue at the end of the meeting said starting on 26 December, a commission to be headed by officials of the UN Mission in Cote d’Ivoire, would oversee the removal of more checkpoints and weapons. It was agreed that entry and exit checkpoints would remain on all major cities, the communique said. At another meeting in the commercial capital, Abidjan, representatives of the "New Forces" met the Prime Minister to discuss a return to a government of national unity. They were led by Louis-Andre Dacoury-Tabley, a senior rebel leader. Rebel spokesman Sidiki Konate told IRIN that the delegation was satisfied with the meetings, without going into details. "Things are moving on," Dacoury-Tabley was quoted as saying to Reuters. Cote d’Ivoire slid into turmoil after a failed coup d’etat turned into a rebellion on 19 September 2002. Since then the country has remained divided between the government-controlled south and rebel-controlled north. Wednesday's meeting was a follow-up to another meeting one week ago in Yamoussoukro, at which the government and rebels vowed to make disarmament a reality. President Laurent Gbagbo gave his backing to a French-brokered peace deal and said that he would travel to Bouake to officially announce the end of war. But the rebels, who pulled out of government on 23 September, raised objections later in the week, threatening the process again which had stalled. In the last few weeks, the rebels, who cited lack of security for their ministers and failure by President Gbagbo to implement the peace agreement as reason for withdrawing from the government, have come under pressure from West African States, France, the United Nations, the European Union and others to return to government. The UN’s Humanitarian Envoy, Carolyn McAskie, reiterated the international community’s plea when, in meeting rebel leader Guillaume Soro on Tuesday, she asked that the rebels "leave the past behind [and] return to the government to [re]construct the country." Sources said the rebels were actually on the verge of returning to government last week, but they were put off by anti-French and anti-rebel demonstrations in Abidjan, sources told IRIN. Rebel fighters slammed their leaders for agreeing to disarm. One fighter, based in the northern town of Korhogo, said he was unhappy that his leaders had agreed to disarmament while there was nothing on the table for those who had fought.