Guillaume Soro, leader of the New Forces rebels who occupy the north of war-divided Côte d’Ivoire recently attended his first Cabinet meeting in more than a year.
Up to now Soro has refused to travel to the main city, Abidjan, in the government-controlled south since President Laurent Gbagbo’s forces broke a long-held ceasefire agreement in November 2004.
Late last year the rebel leader was named Minister for Reconstruction and Reinsertion — a new post and the number two position in government.
All but three of the current government’s 32 ministers attended the session, seen as a key first step towards staging elections by October — a new poll deadline set after the country failed to hold elections last year.
On Tuesday Soro and Gbagbo met for closed-door talks — only the second time the two have met face to face on home soil since war began in September 2002.
Charles Konan Banny took stewardship of a shaky peace deal when he assumed office as Prime Minister in December 2005 after intervention by African and United Nations mediators.
In his three months in office, Banny has breathed some life into a foundering peace process, selecting a new Cabinet and launching an elections commission.
But key challenges remain, not least the disarmament of thousands of rebel and pro-government militia fighters — one of the main factors that threw the elections schedule off track last year.
About 7 000 United Nations peacekeepers are in Côte d’Ivoire, working with 4 000 troops from former colonial power France to keep the warring sides apart. — Irin News Service