Secretary-General concerned about recent developments in Côte d'Ivoire

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called upon the Forces Nouvelles in Côte d'Ivoire to resume participation in the Government of National Reconciliation, which it abandoned last week.

A UN spokesman said the Secretary-General was "deeply concerned" about the group's pull out from the reconciliation government last Tuesday, and about its decision to shut down the main road linking the coastal city of Abidjan and Bouaké, in the central interior.

"The Secretary-General calls upon the Forces Nouvelles to resume participation in the Government of National Reconciliation and to seek solutions to their grievances through dialogue and through the good offices of the Monitoring Committee, chaired by his Special Representative, Mr. Albert Tevoedjre," spokesman Fred Eckhard said.

Mr. Annan also "hopes that the Ivorian Government will continue to provide the necessary leadership in moving the peace process forward," Mr. Eckhard added.

The Secretary-General said last week's developments "constitute a serious setback in the peace process," the spokesman said.