Annan presses Côte d'Ivoire's political leaders to deliver on peace pact pledges

With Côte d'Ivoire poised to miss a deadline for implementing its peace plan, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today voiced regret at the "very limited progress" made so far and urged the parties to take quick remedial action.

Yesterday, an extraordinary session of the National Assembly convened by President Laurent Gbagbo to consider legislative reforms required to move the peace process forward ended without meeting key provisions of the Accra III Agreement.

The Accra III Agreement, adopted at a summit in late July in the Ghanaian capital, binds the Ivorian parties to the 2003 Linas-Marcoussis accord which ended bitter fighting between factions in the country's north and the south. President Gbagbo is required to implement by the end of September provisions regarding eligibility by nationality for the country's presidency.

Through his spokesman, the Secretary-General once again urged all Ivorian political leaders and parliamentarians to "implement fully and in a timely manner all provisions of the Accra III Agreement in the interest of ensuring the restoration of normalcy and stability in Côte d'Ivoire."