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New PM lifts Ivory Coast hopes
By CNN's Alessio Vinci
PARIS, France -- Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo has named a new transitional prime minister with whom he will share power as part of a peace plan to end four months of bloody civil war. Under terms of the agreement, unveiled on Saturday at a summit in Paris, Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo agreed to formation of a government of national unity, led by an interim prime minister with increased powers, until new elections are held. Gbagbo will remain as president until his term ends in 2005. The violence in the Ivory Coast began in September when rebels tried to oust Gbagbo in a coup. The peace agreement calls for amnesty for rebel soldiers and an international commission to investigate alleged human rights abuses. Delegates at the summit agreed to nominate Seydou Diarra as interim prime minister. Diarra is a career diplomat who served as prime minister in a previous national unity government. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who helped broker the agreement along with French President Jacques Chirac and leaders from nine African countries, called the pact a "first step." "Implementation is going to be next, but there seems to be good faith and good will to press ahead in order not to disappoint the people or the country," Annan said Saturday. Chirac called on "all of Ivory Coast's political parties to every day turn the promises of this accord into reality." "Let us keep in mind that the way in which even a sincere accord is observed is as important as its content," he said. Ivory Coast is a former French colony, and 2,000 French peacekeeping troops are currently in the country. French officials hope international pressure will persuade rival factions in the Ivory Coast to observe the agreement, eventually allowing French troops to depart. A regional peacekeeping force, with troops from surrounding West African countries, is being assembled to help enforce the agreement. Gbagbo said the lineup of a new coalition government would be put together in the coming days. He said his new government had "two essential objectives: to lift the Ivory Coast out of war and to bring back prosperity." The selection of a new prime minister was the key element of the peace deal reached on Friday after nine days of negotiations between government and rebel representatives in Paris. Political parties at the talks included Gbagbo's FPI, the Democratic Party (PDCI) of former President Henri Konan Bedie and the Rally of the Republicans (RDR) linked to exiled former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara. Aside from the MPCI, the talks also included two western rebel factions, the Ivorian Patriotic Movement of the Far West (MPIGO) and the Movement for Justice and Peace (MJP). The toughest issue in the Paris talks had been Gbagbo's continued service -- negotiators had to resolve rebels' demand that he step down, and Gbagbo's insistence that he would serve until 2005. Gbagbo came to power in a flawed 2000 election in which opposition leader Alassane Ouattara, a former prime minister with heavy support in the rebellious north, was barred from running after doubt was cast over his nationality. Gbagbo's victory infuriated the opposition. Much of the detail and timetable of the power-sharing agreement still need to be worked out -- leaving plenty of room for disagreement and a possible power struggle between the top two leaders. Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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