Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo named a transitional Prime Minister on Saturday, taking the first step toward implementing a peace plan aimed at ending a four-month-old civil war.
Gbagbo said he had appointed Seydou Diarra, a former Prime Minister who chaired national reconciliation talks once before, as his partner in a new power-sharing government.
Appearing at a news conference with Diarra, Gbagbo said that he had "taken note" of the peace agreement reached Friday by government and rebel leaders in Paris and would announce a new coalition government soon. The peace deal requires that the new government include opposition members, according to AP.
On Friday, peace negotiations ended with a draft agreement to end the civil war in Ivory Coast. A weekend summit of eleven African leaders was being held in the French capital of Paris aimed at providing a stamp of international legitimacy to the peace plan. (Albawaba.com)
