afrol News, 29 March - Dumasani Khumalo, South Africa's Ambassador to the UN Security Council, was optimistic that the world body would approve the appointment of the leader of the ex-rebel Forces Nouvelles (FN), Guillaume Soro, as the Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire. Mr Khumalo chairs the 15-member UN Security Council.

Mr Khumalo told journalists that President Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso had informed his office about the appointment of Mr Soro as PM by the Ivorian leader, President Laurent Gbagbo.

Mr Soro takes over from Charles Konan Banny, an interim PM appointed by the UN after there were delays in last year's presidential elections. Mr Soro is to step down from office after elections are held before the end of 2007.

Mr Soro is the fifth Ivorian Prime Minister to be appointed in only four years. But he is also the first Forces Nouvelles (FN) representative to hold this office.

Now that Mr Soro's appointment's becomes official, the key issue left on the table is the constitution of a government of national unity in which the FN rebels will get 18 out of the 33 ministerial positions in Côte d'Ivoire.

Appointed under a peace accord signed by the officials of FN and Côte d'Ivoire government in the Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou on Monday, the move aims to bridge the crisis between these two main parties in the Ivorian conflict.

The 34-year-old ex-rebel's FN group has been controlling most parts of Côte d'Ivoire's northern half since a civil war in 2002.

Mr Banny had earlier expressed his readiness to "sacrifice himself" to ensure that lasting peace prevails in the war-torn West African country. He is yet to announce his official resignation from office, although he had confirmed that "all missions come to an end."

For over five years, the Côte d'Ivoire government and its northern rebels have been deadlocked over ending the war, despite signing endless peace accords. This deadlock was broken on 4 March when both sides showed their full commitment to ending their differences in Ouagadougou.

The latest negotiated deal is unique in the sense that it takes place in the absence of the UN and African Union. The peace accord advocated for the appointment of a new transitional government whose duty, among others, is to lead the country into presidential polls, within five weeks.

The Ivorian President had asked his people to go back to their plantations to work and forget about the past. Ivorian agriculture has already been hard hit by the civil war and by a regional drought that threatens this year's cocoa production.

Political observers nevertheless fear the return of year another crisis in the country because the deal has been signed by Mr Gbagbo and Mr Soro, excluding the country's civilian opposition to President Gbagbo and other rebel groups based in the west.

Some rebel groups could not chew their anger for not being included in the agreement and therefore threatened to remain armed. Under the Ouagadougou agreement, Prime Minister Soro is tasked to disarm all the militia. Guillaume Soro's critics doubt his ability to steer the affairs of the government.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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