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Annan heading to Ghana for summit on Côte d'Ivoire peace process

Annan heading to Ghana for summit on Côte d'Ivoire peace process

Kofi Annan
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan heads to Ghana this week for a summit with African leaders hoping to get the Côte d'Ivoire peace process back on track.

The meeting, set to begin Thursday, will be co-chaired by Mr. Annan and Ghanaian President John Kufuor in his capacity as the chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). It aims to help the Government of Côte d'Ivoire and the opposition to faithfully implement the peace plan signed in 2003 in Linas-Marcoussis, France.

The peace process in Côte d'Ivoire has largely been deadlocked over differences of interpretation by President Laurent Gbagbo and the opposition Force Nouvelles. Mr. Gbagbo suspended his support for opposition ministers in May and the Forces Nouvelles left the transitional government.

The meeting in the Ghanaian capital of Accra follows on the heels of the "mini-summit" hosted by the Secretary-General earlier this month at the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In addition to the nine Heads of State that attended the Addis meeting, the leaders of all 15 ECOWAS members have been invited, although their attendance has not yet been confirmed.