Ivory Coast President in Ghana

.. to Discuss Impasse Over Peace Deal
Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbabgo is holding talks with Ghana's President John Kufuor Wednesday, to discuss a controversial peace deal with Ivorian rebels. Ghana has just taken over the rotating presidency of the Economic Community of West African states, one of the main mediators in the four-month civil war.

Mr. Gbagbo has not yet said he will implement the power-sharing deal he publicly accepted over a week ago in France, the former colonial power. Demonstrators holding almost daily protests in government-controlled Abidjan are calling for the deal to be rejected because they say it gives too much power to the rebels.

Meanwhile, France is boosting its military presence in Ivory Coast to 3,000 troops by the end of the week. French troops have been ensuring a cease-fire and protecting French nationals. A United Nations Security Council resolution passed Tuesday also gives French and African peacekeepers authority to protect Ivorian civilians for six months.

Northern-based rebels who control half of Ivory Coast are refusing to renegotiate the peace deal. Two other rebel factions who control parts of the west also favor the agreement.