Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo was expected in Côte d’Ivoire on Friday on a mission to help resolve this war-divided West African nation’s latest crisis.
Obasanjo was due to meet Côte d’Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo and other top officials in Abidjan before travelling to rebel headquarters in the northern city of Bouake for talks with rebel leader Guillaume Soro, the Presidency said in a statement.
On Monday, Gbagbo began a United Nations-backed extended year in office that has been fiercely opposed by opposition leaders and rebels who control the northern half of the country.
Gbagbo cancelled presidential elections initially slated for October 30, blaming rebels’ failure to disarm. Loyalist militias, however, have also failed to lay down weapons under a peace deal despite repeated pledges to do so.
Rebels say Gbagbo has no constitutional right to stay in power after October 30 and some Cabinet members say they will no longer recognise his authority. Gbagbo has vowed to stay on until elections are held.
The African Union and the UN Security Council have tried to help resolve the crisis, backing the prolongation of Gbagbo’s mandate and calling for the appointment of a new prime minister to help lead the country toward elections within one year.
Obasanjo is the current chairperson of the 53-nation AU.
There has been no word on who, when or how a new prime minister will be chosen, though rebels want Soro to take the post.
Incumbent Prime Minister Seydou Diarra, though regarded as neutral, is seen as weak and ineffectual.
Rebels seized the northern half of the world’s top cocoa producer in 2002 after a failed coup attempt kicked off months of fighting.
About 6 000 UN troops and 4 000 French peacekeepers are deployed in the country to help. — Sapa-AP