S. Africa's Mbeki on 'urgent mission' to resolve Ivory Coast crisis

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) - The African Union mandated South African President Thabo Mbeki to launch an urgent mission to resolve the crisis in Ivory Coast.
"President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa has been mandated to undertake an urgent mission in consultation with the chairperson of the AU commission, with a view to promoting a political solution" in the west African country, the African Union said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear when the mission would leave, nor who would take part in it.
The decision was taken "as a follow-up to the decision adopted at the Otta AU-ECOWAS consultation," it said, referring to a meeting in Otta, Nigeria, on Saturday of the AU and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo was joined at the meeting by the head of the African Union Commission, Alpha Oumar Konare, and by Ghana's Foreign Minister Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who represented the 15-nation ECOWAS west African regional bloc.
An AU source who requested anonymity told AFP that Mbeki would try to bring Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and opposition leader Alassane Ouatarra into negotiations along with the Gabonese and Burkina Faso presidents Omar Bongo and Blaise Compaore.
The African leaders had Saturday sharply rebuked the Ivory Coast government, saying: "This escalation clearly contradicts the process of national reconciliation."
In a statement on Sunday the AU again condemned a government air strike which had killed nine French peacekeepers and a US civilian in Bouake, in the center of the west African country.
It also condemned the violence prevailing in Abidjan, including the attacks on the property of opposition members and of the media, as well as on foreign citizens and property, especially French citizens and their property.
The statement also urged "all the parties to exercise maximum restreint to prevent a further aggravation of the situation," calling in particular on "President Gbagbo, the Ivory Coast government and all political and social leaders to do everything possible to maintain calm and to ensure the safety of all life and property."
The statement "underlines the imperative need for a political solution to the conflict, and urges all parties to commit themselves to dialogue."

11/07/2004 - 14:45 GMT - AFP