Leader resists ahead of Ivory Coast talks
( 2003-01-14 09:53 ) (7 )

Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo stuck to his guns Monday, resisting demands for his resignation and insisting on the disarmament of rebels behind nearly four months of war in this former French colony.

Gbagbo's comments - in a rare interview with foreign journalists - came as his government signed an agreement in nearby Togo with two holdout rebel factions to suspend hostilities ahead of peace talks slated to begin Wednesday in Paris.

Weeks of negotiations last year between the government and main northern rebel movement foundered on the rebels' demand that Gbagbo step down, and the government's insistence that they lay down their weapons.

"People have to understand that I was elected to be president until 2005," Gbagbo told The Associated Press at his presidential palace in the commercial capital, Abidjan. "After that, others can be candidates against me. And if I beat them, I beat them. If they beat me, they beat me."

Even as his chief negotiator signed the agreement with two western rebel factions, Gbagbo condemned the insurgents for taking up arms against him. But he said he remained optimistic that the Paris talks would bring the fighting to an end.

Two insurgent groups - the Ivorian Popular Movement for the Greater West and the Movement for Justice and Peace - signed an agreement Monday with the government suspending hostilities ahead of this week's Paris talks.

The two factions operating in the cocoa- and coffee-rich west - scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the war - never signed an often-violated cease-fire agreed in October by the government and main northern rebel movement.

Under French pressure, however, western rebel factions agreed to stop fighting Monday and take part in the weeklong summit in Paris.

The 10-point deal - signed under the auspices of the Economic Community of West African States - requires that the government and western rebels freeze their positions to allow a comprehensive cease-fire and political settlement to be reached in Paris.

The warring sides also promised to ensure the free movement of goods and people - including humanitarian workers - across their territories.

A 1,500-strong West African peace force - whose first members have already begun arriving in Ivory Coast - will enforce the deal, which takes effect at midnight.

Leaders of the two factions, the government's chief negotiator, and the regional bloc's executive secretary signed the agreement at a ceremony presided over by Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema.

Mohammed Ibn Chambas, who signed for ECOWAS, hailed the deal as "another major step toward restoration of peace in Ivory Coast."

But a leader of one western faction accused the government of attacking his positions even after he had already left for the Togolese capital on Sunday. Rebel commander Gaspard Deli did not specify where the alleged attacks took place.

"We expect that with this accord signed, they will respect the cessation of hostilities," he said of government forces.

Government officials did not immediately comment on the accusation, which could not be independently verified.

Western Ivory Coast has seen some of the fiercest fighting of the war, which has killed hundreds, displaced tens of thousands and crippled the world's largest cocoa producer.

Insurgents based in the north launched the rebellion Sept. 19 with a failed coup attempt and quickly seized the northern half of the country. The western factions emerged in November and have been joined by fighters from neighboring Liberia, notorious for their extreme violence and drug use.

All the rebels accuse Gbagbo's southern-based government of fanning ethnic hatred.

The October cease-fire helped quell - though not end - fighting in the North.

Western rebels had indicated they were willing only to sign a truce for the duration of the Paris negotiations, but no deadline was included in the document agreed Monday.

As fighting has escalated in the West, France has taken on a growing role in trying to restore order in what was once one of West Africa's most prosperous and stable countries. France has declined to say if it will issue its own proposal to end the violence, simply saying the objective is finding an end to the crisis and the return of peace and unity to Ivory Coast.

More than 2,000 French troops have deployed in the country to enforce the October cease-fire and safeguard foreign nationals. The crack troops have clashed repeatedly with the western rebels, as they try to push east and south into government-held areas.