IVORY COAST: Kofi Annan, Desmond Tutu and Anne Robinson visit Abidjan to support process of reconciliation

Record ID: 181577

  • Title: IVORY COAST: Kofi Annan, Desmond Tutu and Anne Robinson visit Abidjan to support process of reconciliation
  • Date: 2nd May 2011
  • Summary: ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (MAY 1, 2011) (REUTERS) ( ** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF GOLF HOTEL WITH ARMED SOLDIERS GUARDING THE ENTRANCE VARIOUS OF FORMER UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY GENERAL KOFI ANNAN, NOBEL LAUREATE DESMOND TUTU AND IVORIAN PRIME MINISTER GUILLAUME SORO WALKING INSIDE THE HOTEL VARIOUS OF MEETING ROOM WITH TUTU AND ANNAN IN FRONT OF JOURNALISTS SORO TALKING TO TWO IVORIAN GOVERNMENT MINISTERS IVORIAN PRESIDENT ALASSANE OUATTARA SALLUTING ANNAN MORE OF JOURNALISTS OUATTARA SALLUTING TUTU (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) FORMER UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY GENERAL, KOFI ANAN, SAYING: "We came here in support of the government and the population for the reconciliation which is absolutely necessary. The economy also needs rebuilding, and I hope we will also get the chance to talk about everything the international community can do to help." VARIOUS OF MEETING ROOM WITH OUATTARA AND SORO AT A TABLE (SOUNDBITE) (English) NOBEL LAUREAT ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU, SAYING: " The problems are manifold but the determination is there, the determination to make Cote d'Ivoire again the star of the west." OUATTARA SAYING GOODBYE TO THE DELEGATION
  • Embargoed: 17th May 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cote d'Ivoire
  • Country: Ivory Coast
  • Topics: International Relations,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1I8VE2O36RGPM91M8WOX388RO
  • Story Text: Ivory Coast's president on Sunday said former Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny would head a truth and reconciliation commission, set up to heal divisions after months of conflict.
    President Alassane Ouattara made the announcement at a meeting with Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu, former Irish president Mary Robinson and former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, who are visiting the country to promote reconciliation.
    "We came here in support of the government and the population for the reconcilliation which is absolutely necessary. The economy also needs rebuilding, and I hope we will also get the chance to talk about everything the international community can do to help," Annan said after meeting Ouattara.
    Elections late last year that were meant draw a line under a decade of political crisis and economic stagnation instead deepened rifts in the world's top cocoa producer.
    Former president Laurent Gbagbo refused to leave office after losing the November poll.
    Ouattara eventually came to power after his supporters -- backed by French and U.N. helicopter gunships -- arrested Gbagbo after days of heavy fighting in the main city Abidjan.
    Banny, also a former governor of the West African BCEAO central bank, served as prime minister in a transitional government that ran the country after the 2002-3 civil war split the nation in two.
    Hundreds of thousands were forced from their homes and as many as 3,000 people were killed in the power struggle.
    Ouattara comes to power with widespread international support, and has taken steps towards restoring law and order and getting the economy back on its feet.
    Analysts say he still needs to heal the rift between the north, which voted overwhelmingly for him, and the south, home to many pro-Gbagbo supporters.
    Gbagbo and his wife Simone are being held in separate locations in northern Ivory Coast.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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