Gbagbo and rebel leader sign deal

Ivory Coast's president signed a peace accord on Sunday with the country's main rebel leader that calls for a new government to hold elections by the year's end and for the dismantling of a vast buffer zone separating the two sides.

Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo and rebel leader Guillaume Soro agreed to form a new unity government within five weeks and create a new joint military command that would include rebel and army officials.

Also by year's end, they agreed to disarm and begin a crucial program to issue identification papers to those who lack them, a controversial issue that has prevented potential voters from registering, twice derailing presidential elections.

Ivory Coast, the world's leading cocoa producer, has been split between a loyalist south and a rebel-held north since insurgents began the war in Sept. 2002 in the main city, Abidjan.

Months clashes ended with a peace deal signed in France in Jan. 2003, but that accord as well as follow-up deals in Ghana and South Africa have never been implemented -- stumbling repeatedly over disputes on disarmament and the national identity program.

LATEST DEAL

The latest deal is the result of meetings between the two camps that started early last month under the oversight of Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore.

"It is peace through Africans, and I am proud of it because all the problems in Africa can find a solution here on the continent," Gbagbo said after signing the agreement.

Soro his New Forces rebels were committed to the deal, stressing that "peace is strongly possible in Ivory Coast."

About UN troops and 4,000 French soldiers are deployed in Ivory Coast helping to ward-off all-out civil war.

BUFFER ZONE

Many patrol a giant buffer zone that runs east to west, dividing the country in half. The demilitarized zone separates the sides by dozens of kilometers, with roadside UN checkpoints on both ends.

The new deal calls for the buffer zone to be replaced by a series of observation posts monitored by "impartial forces" -- a reference to peacekeepers the deal foresees eventually being scaled down. The rationale for removing the buffer zone is to allow people to cross more easily.

French Aid and Cooperation Minister Brigitte Girardin, speaking on France-Info radio, praised the accord and said that France would consider pulling out its troops deployed in Ivory Coast.

"Starting now, we can indeed envisage a progressive withdrawal of the international community," she said. "I think the conditions are now in place so that Ivorians can overcome their difficulties."

"It's with great satisfaction to see that the Ivorians have found this confidence in themselves that had been missing," Girardin said. "I hope this accord was concluded in good faith."

Elections initially due to be held in October 2005 at the end of Gbagbo's five-year term.

FAILURE

But the failure by all sides to implement prior peace deals has kept the country divided and Gbagbo has twice extended his term in office with UN backing.

The new deal envisions elections within 10 months, a few months after the UN has called for.

Gbagbo repudiated peace plans backed by UN and France, saying he would use African mediators to end the stalemate.