SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES AGREEMENT REACHED BY IVORIAN PARTIES

Following is a statement attributable to the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General welcomes the agreement reached by the Ivorian parties regarding the implementation of the Accra III and Linas-Marcoussis Agreements, following their consultations with [South African] President [Thabo] Mbeki, under the initiative which he is leading on behalf of the African Union.  The parties must now agree upon a detailed programme of action for the implementation of their commitments within a clear time frame.

The Secretary-General urges all the Ivorian parties to seize this opportunity and to ensure that genuine progress, which is required to prepare for the holding of elections in October 2005, is made.  The Secretary-General looks forward to President Mbeki and the African Union’s continued efforts to resolve the crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, in close cooperation with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire.

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