ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN FRANCE, 23 - 26 JANUARY

The Secretary-General travelled to Paris in the evening of Thursday, 23 January, arriving early the following morning.

At noon that day, he conferred with his Special Representative for West Africa, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah.  After that, he travelled to the Elysée Palace where he met with French President Jacques Chirac who was accompanied by Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin.  They reviewed progress that had been made on the Côte d’Ivoire talks outside Paris under the auspices of the French Government and plans for the Summit meeting on Côte d’Ivoire which would take place over the weekend.

The Secretary-General then met privately with President Chirac and Foreign Minister de Villepin.

On Saturday morning, the Secretary-General conferred briefly with French President Jacques Chirac before the opening of the Conference of Heads of State on Côte d’Ivoire.

President Chirac then opened the meeting, saying that representatives of the Ivorian political parties had reached a power-sharing agreement after several days of negotiations.  The purpose of the Summit, he said, is to approve the terms of the accord and gather international support for its implementation.

Pierre Mazeaud, the member of the French Constitutional Council who chaired 10 days of talks among the parties that took place outside Paris at the town of Linas-Marcoussis, then thanked the delegations for their spirit of compromise.  He concluded by quoting Côte d’Ivoire’s first President, Felix Houphouët-Boigny, who said, “Your second religion should be peace.”

President Chirac then recessed the meeting to confer with Côte d’Ivoire’s President, Laurent Gbagbo.  Also in that meeting were the Secretary-General, Gabon’s President Omar Bongo, as the longest-serving African President at the Summit, and French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin.  After two hours, the Summit reconvened, and President Chirac announced that, in an agreement concluded under the authority of the Secretary-General, President Gbagbo had decided to appoint Seydou Diarra, a former Prime Minister and a Muslim from the north, as the new Prime Minister to head a government of national reconciliation.

President Gbagbo then spoke, saying that he had been travelling the world in search of peace, seeking help from France, the United Nations, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union, as well as private organizations like the St. Egidio Society of Rome.  Not everyone will like every

detail of the agreement, he said, but it must be respected.  He thanked all those who also had helped reach the power-sharing agreement and called on the international community to help with its implementation.  “I dream of a better future”, he said.

The Secretary-General spoke last, saying he was delighted that agreement had been reached, and praised the courage and wisdom of the party leaders who had produced it.  He pledged international support for the reconciliation effort, saying to the delegations, “We count on you; don’t let the country, or the region, down.”

The Summit then broke for lunch.  Before its resumption, the Secretary-General and President Chirac conferred for about a half hour with the leaders of the political parties.

The first speaker in the afternoon session was President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, who welcomed the agreement and pledged the support of ECOWAS, of which he is Chairman.  South African President Thabo Mbeki did the same on behalf of the African Union, which he heads.

The Secretary-General then chaired a segment on follow-up mechanisms for the peace agreement.  “On this day of hope for the Ivorian people”, he said, “I should like to thank all those who contributed to this stage of the settlement of the crisis.”  But he added that this is only the beginning; the real hard work now begins.  (See Press Release SG/SM/8589.)

He urged the international community to support the efforts of ECOWAS to consolidate the ceasefire.  He said he would ask the Security Council to determine what concrete steps it might take to support implementation.  He called for reform of the Ivorian defence and security forces, reviving the national economy, reforming the electoral and judicial system and assisting displaced persons and refugees.

On human rights, he said that the report of a United Nations team that had visited Côte d’Ivoire recently would be released shortly.

He concluded by saying that the international follow-up committee to monitor compliance with the agreement should start work very quickly, preferably holding its first meeting early next month.

President Gbagbo then made brief remarks before President Chirac announced that, at the request of President Gbagbo, he would ask newly nominated Prime Minister Seydou Diarra to describe the architecture of the new Government.  Prime Minister Diarra then outlined an arrangement by which the principal ministries, as well as other senior government positions, would be divided among the political parties.  President Gbagbo was to formally announce Mr. Diarra’s appointment that evening from the Côte d’Ivoire Embassy. 

After the session concluded, the Secretary-General encountered the press on leaving the Conference Centre.  In response to a question, he said “There is an agreement, but it is just a beginning.  The Ivorians themselves must cooperate.”

That evening, the Secretary-General met with President Mbeki for almost an hour for a review of a number of issues affecting African security.

On Sunday, the Secretary-General returned to the Conference, where he had the opportunity to speak to European Union officials Romano Prodi and Javier Solana, among others, before the beginning of the session.

In the opening segment, chaired by President Mbeki, the heads of State discussed regional security issues, including the projected deployment of ECOWAS troops to Côte d’Ivoire and their cost.  In the next segment, they heard pledges of support from a number of donors, including the European Union, which committed over 400 million euros over the next five years.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for West Africa, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, then described United Nations efforts to deal with Côte d’Ivoire’s humanitarian issues, including a million displaced persons, disruption of schooling and shortage of medicines and food.

The session ended at midday.  At a press conference afterwards, the Secretary-General said, “I am a neighbour of Côte d’Ivoire:  the Ivory Coast I knew was a peaceful Ivory Coast, an island of stability in the region.”

Referring to violent demonstrations against the peace agreement that had taken place in Abidjan that morning, he said, “It is unacceptable that those who have taken up guns come to Paris and try to resolve [the crisis] and others take to the streets because one is discussing peace here in Paris.”

He concluded, “I hope the population will work with the leaders, will accept the decision taken here in Paris and return the Ivory Coast to the Ivory Coast that we all knew and admired.”

The Secretary-General then attended a luncheon in honour of the heads of State at the Conference, hosted by President Chirac.

He returned to New York that evening.