Côte d’Ivoire rebel leader Guillame Soro will visit South Africa soon to discuss with President Thabo Mbeki solutions to the Ivorian civil war, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad told reporters in Pretoria that Soro, head of the New Ivory Coast Forces, will arrive as soon as Mbeki and other South African leaders are back in the country.
Mbeki is currently on a state visit to European Union countries.
Last week, Mbeki held discussions with former Côte d’Ivoire prime minister Alassane Quattara and opposition party chief Alfonse Djedje Mady on the continuing violence in that country, which has claimed hundreds of lives.
Mbeki also met Burkino Faso President Blasie Compaore over the weekend to discuss the conflict.
Côte d’Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo has repeatedly accused Burkino Faso of supporting the rebels in the north, whose uprising sparked the civil war in 2002.
Pahad said South Africa is not opposed to an arms embargo and the country will support a regional arms embargo.
The United Nations Security Council is currently considering imposing financial and movement sanctions on Côte d’Ivoire in a bid to force Gbagbo to adopt a more inclusive government and Constitution. — Sapa
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