President Leaves For Cote d'Ivoire

The Chairman of ECOWAS, President John Agyekum Kufuor left Accra on Monday for Yamoussoukro, Cote D'Ivoire for the inauguration of the new Ivorian Prime Minister, Seidu Diara. Leaders of the ECOWAS contact group are expected to join President Kufuor for the ceremony.

Foreign Minister, Hackman Owusu-Agyeman; Executive Secretary of ECOWAS, Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas and officials from the Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs accompanied him. The contact group would hold consultations with President Laurent Gbagbo and leaders of the rebel factions.

French forces in that country have reportedly taken the necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of the rebel delegation that would be in the Ivorian capital.

West African Leaders Push to Save Ivory Coast Peace Deal

West African leaders are expected to meet in Ivory Coast Monday in an attempt to salvage a peace agreement in the country's five-month civil war, but rebels say they will not take part in the talks.

The main rebel group fighting since last September, the Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast, says there is no need to re-negotiate a peace agreement reached last month in France, which guaranteed the rebels key ministerial posts.

President Laurent Gbagbo has said he will abide by the spirit of the French-backed peace accord, but he told the nation last week that he has not yet decided how ministries will be divided in a new coalition government.

President Gbagbo is expected to take part in today's talks in Yamoussoukro, the Ivorian capital. John Kufuor, The president of Ghana, head of the Economic Community of West African States, is expected to lead the discussions, and there are reports that Ivory Coast's new prime minister-designate, Seydou Diarra, may be sworn into office. Mr. Diarra, who is backed by the rebels, has not traveled to Abidjan, Ivory Coast's commercial capital, since his nomination was announced -- reportedly due to security concerns.

Although a cease-fire agreement has been in effect in most of the country, fighting was reported Sunday in western Ivory Coast, near the Liberian border, between rebels and government troops.

An Ivorian army spokesman said rebels based in Liberia attacked government troops in the western town of Toul?pleu early Sunday. However, a rebel commander is quoted as saying that government forces opened fire first with tanks and heavy weapons (killing four rebels and injuring two others).

The Yamoussoukro summit is expected to involve members of the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) "contact group" on the Ivorian crisis -- Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo.

France, the former colonial power in the region, the United States and other members of the international community have been urging Mr. Gbagbo to implement the peace agreement and end the civil war, which has created chaos in a country that accounts for much of the West African region's economic output.