FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER TO VISIT IVORY COAST

ABIDJAN, June 13, 2008 (AFP) - French foreign affairs chief Bernard Kouchner is to visit Ivory Coast at the weekend, a first foreign ministerial visit by France since January 2003, a French diplomatic source said Friday. The 48-hour visit, starting Saturday morning, is aimed at "encouraging all the Ivorian parties to pursue their efforts in favour of the peace process and preparations for presidential elections due on November 30," the source said. Kouchner is due to meet President Laurent Gbagbo and former New Forces (FN) rebel chief Guillaume Soro, named prime minister following a peace deal signed in Burkina Faso in March 2007. Kouchner will also meet former head of state Henri Konan Bedie and ex-PM Alassane Ouattara, each of whom are candidates in November, as well as the president of Ivory Coast's electoral commission and leaders from civil society. Relations between Ivory Coast and France had long been strained with Gbago's regime criticising Paris for not doing more to quell the FN rebellion after a September 2002 coup attempt, when Soro's organisation took control of the north of the country despite a French military operation being in place. When the last French foreign minister to visit, Domninique de Villepin, tried to leave the presidential palace in January 2003, he was blocked by pro-Gbagbo demonstrators for half an hour. Tensions reached a peak in November 2004 when the Ivorian air force killed nine French soldiers and an American national during a raid on the north. The subsequent destruction of the Ivorian air fleet ordered by then president Jacques Chirac triggered mass demonstrations and the evacuation of some 8,000 foreign nationals, mainly French. French peacekeepers also opened fire on thousands of demonstrators, killing 20 people, according to French figures, and 60, according to Ivorian authorities.

Ivory Coast cocoa leaders charged with embezzlement

ABIDJAN (AFP) - Twenty-three figures in Ivory Coast's cocoa industry have been charged with embezzlement following an investigation called by the president, the public prosecutor said Friday. They are suspected of "embezzlement of funds, abuse of trust, abuse of social assets, fraud, counterfeiting and the use of counterfeit commercial or banking documents", Abidjan prosecutor Raymond Tchimou said in a statement. Among the accused are Lucien Tape Do, president of the coffee and cocoa exchange; Henri Kassi Amouzou, president of the cocoa producers' development fund; and Angeline Kili of the cocoa regulation fund. Ivory Coast is the world's leading cocoa producer. "All the structures of the coffee-cocoa industry were found to be dysfunctional because the texts creating them has become obsolete especially with regards to the mandate of administrators managing them," Tchimou said. Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo had called in October 2007 for an investigation into alleged embezzlement in the cocao industry. Shortly afterwards, industry leaders began accusing each other in the media. A case against the 23 accused, who are still free, was opened May 30. The initial investigation revealed "the malfunctioning of certain acquired companies or the non-paying out of dividends as well as the absence of proper redistribution of resources and benefits to workers", the prosecutor was quoted in the media as having said. The court also found "anomalies" in budgets, including the allocation of exorbitant salaries, bribes and expenses, Tchimou said.

Ivorian cocoa arrivals up at 1.18 mln T by June 8

ABIDJAN, June 13 (Reuters) - Cocoa arrivals at ports in the world's top grower, Ivory Coast, reached 1,181,497 tonnes between Oct. 1 and June 8, up from 1,100,008 tonnes in the same period a year ago, according to data from exporters on Friday. The figures showed 19,487 tonnes of beans arrived at the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro between June 2 and 8, down from 25,163 tonnes in the same week of the 2006/2007 season, but up from last week's level of 16,159 tonnes.Some exporters expressed hope that the upward trend could continue, after two consecutive weeks of rises. "We hope to top 20,000 tonnes this week and why not even exceed 25,000 tonnes, which would be interesting," said one. Exporters have expressed disappointment in recent weeks that the April-September mid crop has been below expected levels, and they said there was little prospect of a dramatic improvement. Prices have been kept down by concerns over quality, caused by high moisture levels due to rain and large numbers of small beans -- which yield less valuable butter and other products when ground, and are processed locally rather than exported. "We are not expecting much this week and I think we will be around the same price range as last week," said one director of a European exporter based in Abidjan. "There is not a lot of activity at the moment." (Reporting by Ange Aboa; editing by Daniel Flynn and Peter Blackburn)

UN confirms security plans for upcoming Ivorian presidential election

Friday, 13 June 2008, 12:23 pm Press Release: United Nations
The United Nations mission in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) has confirmed that coordinated security arrangements will be in place with the aim of providing conditions for a successful presidential election in Côte d'Ivoire which is scheduled for November. UNOCI announced to reporters yesterday that the initiative will involve the Ivorian army, the former rebel Forces Nouvelles, UN peacekeepers in Liberia (UNMIL) and Cote d'Ivoire, and the Security Council-mandated French force Licorne. They will secure Ivorian borders and provide security inside the country during the voting period. "We are absolutely committed to the free movement of Ivorian voters," UNOCI Force Commander General Fernand Marcel Amoussou said. The Force Commander of UNMIL General Chikadibia Obiakor said that the security arrangements will be in place from 19 June on the border between Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia. Earlier this week a Security Council delegation met with officials in the country's capital, Abidjan, where they discussed the ongoing peace process in the West African nation and the presidential election.