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In Côte d'Ivoire, Annan says reconciliation will foster further progress

In Côte d'Ivoire, Annan says reconciliation will foster further progress

During an official visit to Côte d'Ivoire, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan hailed reconciliation moves in the country and voiced confidence that they would lead to improvements on the development front, a UN spokesman reported today.

"I am sure that when the political situation is calm, it will be possible to concentrate on economic and social problems," Mr. Annan told reporters following his meeting in Abidjan on Saturday with President Laurent Gbagbo. "And I am sure that investors will come" to the country, he added.

Asked about what the UN is doing to foster peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Secretary-General said efforts were under way to see how to expand the UN peacekeeping mission in the country. At the same time, he said, the UN would help the parties to implement the recently concluded Pretoria agreement. With proper action, progress would be possible on that front, he stressed.

The Secretary-General's stop in Côte d'Ivoire was the first in a series of official visits to six African countries, culminating with his participation at the high-level segment of the World Summit for Sustainable Development early next month in Johannesburg, South Africa.