Gbagbo peace proposals dodge rebel demands-diplomats
Source: Reuters
By Peter Murphy ABIDJAN, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Ivory Coast's President Laurent Gbagbo is seeking to side-step a U.N.-backed peace process with his own proposals for the country which overlook key rebel demands and are unlikely to win acceptance, diplomats said. Gbagbo proposed in a televised address late on Tuesday to negotiate directly with rebels holding the north of the former French colony in a renewed swipe at foreign peace efforts which he says have so far produced nothing but deadlock. The world's top cocoa grower has been divided in two since a brief 2002-03 civil war which erupted after the New Forces rebels tried to oust Gbagbo. Political squabbling has dogged a string of peace deals seeking reunification through elections. The latest U.N.-backed plan foresees presidential polls by the end of October 2007. Two previous deadlines were missed. Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny is charged with organising the ballot and overseeing a disarmament programme. But Gbagbo has clashed publicly with the premier and said priority should now go to implementing home-grown peace plans. The rebels have refused to comment on the proposals but some diplomats doubted they would end the ageing stalemate. "(Gbagbo) is certainly brushing (the U.N. plan) aside. He is acting as though the only problem is disarmament of the rebels," one Western diplomat told Reuters. He said the plan made no mention of the rebels' key demand that identity papers be distributed to the estimated 3.5 million people born in Ivory Coast but never registered at birth -- which they and foreign mediators say is vital to fair elections. "The identification exercise is key to the end of the crisis ... but (Gbagbo) is saying nothing about that," the diplomat said, adding he thought it unlikely the rebels would disarm unless that demand was met. Distribution of documents began at special identity hearings across the country in July but quickly ground to a halt amid violent opposition from Gbagbo supporters and after the president enacted new rules making the process more complex. FEW INCENTIVES Gbagbo's five-point plan called for the scrapping of a buffer zone which crosses the country and is policed by members of an 11,000-strong U.N. and French peacekeeping force. He also proposed to update a law giving amnesty to the rebels. In addition, he unveiled a new youth training and employment scheme which would also be open to rebel combatants and aimed to combat war-fuelled joblessness in the world's top cocoa grower. But some analysts say both rebel and government sides are amassing too much money through illicit exploitation of natural resources to show the will to end the low-level conflict. One European diplomat said there were few incentives in Gbagbo's plan to entice the rebels until their demands were met. "I don't see what he could really give them to make them say yes to this," one European diplomat told Reuters by telephone. "Gbagbo has tried several times now to solve the crisis with them directly. They have said their framework for the peace process is (the U.N.-backed plan)," the diplomat said.
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