Global Policy Forum

By Alistair Thomson

Ivory Coast's civil war foes agreed on Wednesday after talks in South Africa to end war once and for all in the world's top cocoa grower, a country that has been split by conflict since the end of 2002. "The Ivorian parties that are signatories to the Pretoria agreement hereby solemnly declare the immediate and final cessation of all hostilities and the end of the war throughout the national territory," they said in a joint statement.

Rebels known as the New Forces seized the north of Ivory Coast after a failed attempt to oust President Laurent Gbagbo in September 2002. Thousands died in fighting and more than a million people were uprooted from their homes. A French-brokered peace deal was signed in January 2003 but has yet to be fully implemented. A fragile 18-month truce was shattered last November when Gbagbo's forces attacked the rebel north. Since then fears of a return to war have been growing.

"Above all, this was an agreement between Ivorians ... we really worked, identified the problems and sought to resolve them," Gbagbo said after signing the statement, adding that it was not "just another accord". Both sides have agreed several times to end the war but previous pledges have been hobbled by mutual distrust as neither side has been willing to compromise on key demands. Some 10,000 U.N. and French troops man a buffer zone between the two sides.

Gbagbo, rebel leader Guillaume Soro and Ivory Coast's main opposition politicians -- Alassane Ouattara and Henri Konan Bedie -- all signed the deal after the Pretoria talks, dubbed a last chance to salvage peace in the former French colony. Cocoa prices in London and New York fell after the agreement, as it eased fears of potential disruption to supply in a country which grows 40 percent of the world's cocoa beans.

Election Candidates

The leaders said they were determined to hold presidential polls in 2005 and that the United Nations would be invited to participate in the work of the independent electoral commission. But it was still not clear who would be eligible to run. The rebels have so far refused to disarm until the constitution has been changed to let opposition leader Ouattara stand, in line with the January 2003 deal.

Ouattara, a former prime minister, was excluded from a disputed 2000 election over questions of nationality. South African President Thabo Mbeki, who is mediating in the crisis, will now consult United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is chairman of the African Union, before ruling on the eligibilty issue.

"We have already given the mediator the go-ahead to say that the Ivorians have been unable to agree with each other on the conditions for eligibility. Over to you," Soro said. None of the Ivorian signatories to the agreement would comment on whether progress had been made behind closed-doors on the issue of who would could stand in the October elections. "All I can say is that everyone will be a candidate," said the member of one delegation, who declined to be identified.

Rebels to Return to Government

The New Forces said they had agreed to return to a government of national reconciliation based in the southern main city Abidjan after agreeing a security plan for their ministers. They withdrew from the government last year.

The rebel armed forces will meet the Ivorian army on April 14 in the rebel stronghold of Bouake to discuss a disarmament plan and how to form a united national army. The leaders also agreed that 600 rebel fighters would be recruited into a national police force, operating in rebel areas under the auspices of the United Nations and that militias throughout the country would be disarmed.

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