Côte d'Ivoire peace shows promise; determination needed for road ahead - Annan

The peace process in Côte d'Ivoire has made encouraging progress in the past six months, but according to the first report on the new United Nations mission in the country, the road to true stability is long and fraught with contradictions that must be resolved in order for the new Government to fully implement its promising work plan.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan's first report on the UN Mission in Côte d'Ivoire (MINUCI) was released today, outlining the steps taken since March by the Ivorian parties that have yielded encouraging results on some fronts and mixed results on others. The Mission was established in May to help guide implementation of the Linas-Marcoussis Agreement, a French-brokered peace accord that calls on the government, rebels and political opposition to share power in a transitional government until elections in 2005.

Mr. Annan writes that while the overall Ivorian peace process has made encouraging progress, the efforts of the parties to move forward the implementation of the accord have yielded mixed results. On the positive side, he notes the installation of the Government of national reconciliation, the preparation of the Government's work programme, and confidence-building steps that have been taken by the Forces armies nationals de Côte d'Ivoire (FANCI) and the Forces nouvelles. Those steps, along with demobilization efforts, and the adoption of an amnesty law, have laid a "good basis" for further progress.

But on the other hand, Mr. Annan stresses that the road ahead will be long, and that the peace process is fraught with perils and contradictions that must be surmounted in order to create a climate conducive to a constructive discussion by the National Assembly on the critical issues in the Government's work plan. That plan proposes mechanisms that may eventually be used to address delicate subjects such as citizenship, rights and freedoms of individuals, land tenure laws and the electoral system.

The report also expresses the Secretary-General's concern about armed Liberian elements reportedly operating in western Côte d'Ivoire, saying that these elements constitute an immediate and a long-term threat to the efforts to stabilize both countries. He says he feels greatly encouraged about the ongoing efforts of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Security Council to resolve the conflict in Liberia, which has been the primary source of instability in the subregion.

The Security Council is scheduled to discuss the report next Wednesday.