Ivorian ruling party warns against weakening Gbagbo
By : Loucoumane Coulibaly

October 13, 2006 - (Reuters) Ivory Coast's ruling party warned on Friday the war-divided country would descend into chaos if foreign mediators tried to strip President Laurent Gbagbo of any of his powers at a summit next week. African leaders are due to meet in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Tuesday to discuss how Ivory Coast should be governed after a 12-month extension to Gbagbo's mandate expires at the end of October.

Leaders from West African regional bloc ECOWAS agreed last week that they would recommend Gbagbo remain in power for a further year but with some of his powers curtailed and transferred to interim prime minister Charles Konan Banny. "If we go to Addis Ababa, strip President Gbagbo of his powers and give them to Banny or someone else, that means we want chaos for this country because Ivorians will not accept it," Pascal Affi N'Guessan, head of Gbagbo's FPI party, said.

The former French colony has been split in two since rebels seized its northern half after a failed attempt to oust Gbagbo in September 2002. United Nations and French peacekeepers police a buffer zone keeping both sides apart. A U.N.-backed transition plan gave Gbagbo a further 12 months in office when polls failed to take place a year ago. With history threatening to repeat itself, the rebels and opposition are demanding Gbagbo step down, setting themselves on a collision course with the president's supporters who say he is the lawful leader until a successor is elected.

The rebels have proposed Gbagbo be replaced by a new transition leader and two vice-presidents, one from the rebel ranks and the other from the FPI. A main opposition leader on Thursday proposed a ruling council comprised of Gbagbo, two opposition leaders and rebel leader Guillaume Soro. But N'Guessan said any new proposals for a transition should instead demand the rebels disarm and he repeated the party's call for 4,000 French troops who back up 7,600 U.N. peacekeepers to leave the country.

He accuses them of prolonging the crisis. "As early as Monday we will launch a petition across the national territory for the departure of the French forces," he said, proposing they be replaced by African peacekeepers. Gbagbo's supporters have in the past launched violent protests against challenges to the president's authority. Some of the violence has targeted French nationals and French business interests in the world's top cocoa grower.

From : http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L13290157.htm