DAKAR, Nov 29 (AFP) - Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo,
whose government faces a rebellion centred on the north that has cut
the country in two, has agreed to meet Burkina Faso President Blaise
Compaore in the near future, the leader of Senegal said.
   Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, who has been helping
mediate a solution to the west African crisis, said the talks could
take place "quite soon" in Mali.
   Burkina Faso borders Ivory Coast to the north, and the Ivory
Coast government has accused it of helping the rebels.
   Wade, whose country currently presides the main regional
grouping ECOWAS, made the announcement late on Thursday after talks
in the Senegalese capital Dakar with French Foreign Minister
Dominique de Villepin.
   He said de Villepin had proposed both the meeting between Gbagbo
and Compaore, and the convening of a summit by the 15 ECOWAS
(Economic Community of West African States) nations.
   Wade said the date for an ECOWAS summit would be announced soon.
He also said he regretted the resumption of fighting on Thursday
between government and rebel forces in Ivory Coast.
   De Villepin said late on Thursday that he was pleased Gbagbo and
Compaore had agreed to meet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~