A French-brokered peace accord aimed at ending more than four months of conflict in Ivory Coast is an important first step, the representative for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Monday.
”The Linas-Marcoussis Agreement negotiated by the various Ivoirian parties and endorsed by the Paris Conference of Heads of State on 26 January, represents an important first step towards restoring peace and stability to a reunified Côte d’Ivoire,” the statement said.
”In associating itself with that agreement, the United Nations reaffirmed its determination to continue to contribute to all efforts aimed at bringing the conflict and the suffering of the Ivoirian people to an end,” it added.
”The Secretary-General once again calls on all Ivoirians, and particularly the political leaders, to work towards making this agreement a concrete first step towards peace,” the statement said. Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo is wavering about whether to implement the deal he accepted late last month in France.
Ivory Coast rebels warned on Monday they could oust the president in two days if he fails to do so. Meanwhile thousands of women calling themselves the ”new amazons”, ringed the French embassy in Abidjan hurling insults at France, the west African country’s former ruler, and President Jacques Chirac, allegedly for foisting the peace pact on Gbagbo.
Some 16 000 French nationals live in the west African state, most of them in Abidjan, the country’s economic capital. Paris has bolstered security around its nationals and urged all those whose presence in the country is not essential to leave, following a spate of violent anti-French protests against the peace deal. – Sapa-AFP