Pretoria summit tries to break deadlock on disarmament

President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa chaired a fresh summit of Cote d’Ivoire’s main political factions on Tuesday, aimed at clearing the way for disarmament and the holding of presidential elections. Mbeki, who was appointed as a mediator by the African Union, called the meeting after rebels occupying the north of Cote d'Ivoire missed two deadlines for starting the process of handing in their guns, following a previous peace summit in Pretoria in April. The first deadline set for disarmament was 14 May and the second was 27 June. The rebels have been holding back, saying that President Laurent Gbagbo must first disarm several thousand militiamen who support his armed forces, and push through political reforms that were agreed in principle over two years ago. Briefing reporters on the sidelines of the talks, South African Foreign Minister, Aziz Pahad, emphasised the need for Gbagbo to push through the reforms and coax the rebels back to full participation in Cote d'Ivoire's power-sharing government of national reconciliation. Referring to "protracted and dangerous delays" in the implementation of the first Pretoria agreement, Pahad said: "the full integrity of the government of national reconciliation has yet to be restored and time is running out for the organisation of the first round of the presidential elections, due to be held on 30 October." He particularly stressed the need for parliament to approve a draft law that will revise the composition of the Independent Electoral Commission. The passage of this bill, that would give the rebels and the parliamentary opposition parties stronger representation on the body, has been held up by Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) party. Mbeki said in brief remarks before Tuesday's talks went into closed session that the participants would review progress in implementing the original Pretoria agreement. "We will go through each of the points and take the decisions necessary in order to advance the peace process," he said. Silvere Nebout, a spokesman for President Gbagbo, said he remained hopeful that the presidential poll could be held on schedule. "We are still hoping that the elections will be held on 30 October," Nebout said. "The key, of course, is the disarmament process, where there has been no progress," he added. Alassane Ouattara, an opposition leader who aims to challenge Gbagbo in the presidential elections, told IRIN during a break in the meeting that the talks "were progressing well," but he gave no details. Mbeki's legal advisor, Mojanku Gumbi, said the peace summit, already dubbed by the Ivorian media as "Pretoria Two," was expected to wind up on Tuesday night. The key participants in the talks were Gbagbo, rebel leader Guillaume Soro, Prime Minister Seydou Diarra, former president Henri Konan Bedie, the leader of the Democratic Party of Cote d'Ivoire (PDCI), the largest opposition party in parliament, and Ouattara, the exiled leader of the Rally of the Republicans (RDR) opposition party, who is strongly supported by the rebel movement. All the Ivorian delegates arrived in South Africa on Sunday. Mbeki is the latest in a string of international mediators who have tried to bring an end to the three-year-old civil war in Cote d'Ivoire. He was appointed by the African Union in November after Gbagbo's air force broke an 18-month-old ceasefire by launching a series of air raids against rebel targets in the north. Since then, an uneasy truce has returned. But with no visible progress towards disarmament, tension is rising again and diplomats are talking openly about the possibility of postponing elections to allow more time for their preparation. There have been no more direct clashes between the government and rebel armed forces since November, but more than 100 people died in a series of ethnic killings near the western frontline town of Duekoue earlier this month.