Abidjan, 04 June 2009...The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire, Y.J. Choi, will meet the diplomatic corps accredited in Côte d'Ivoire on Thursday. This was announced earlier on Thursday by the Spokesman of the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), Hamadoun Touré, at the mission's weekly press conference.

Mr. Touré said that the meeting would give Mr.Choi the opportunity to pursue his explanation of the implementation of the certification mandate conferred upon him by the UN Security Council. He added that the Special Representative would also update the diplomatic corps on "the latest developments in the Ivorian peace process" and that "emphasis will be placed on the electoral process, in particular the certification of the elections".

The Spokesman announced that within the framework of the supplementary phase of the identification and voter registration operation, 76,381 persons had been registered, including 41,000 in Abidjan, according to official statistics dated 2 June. In this regard, he reaffirmed that UNOCI remained ready to continue providing logistical support for the achievement of the objectives set, explaining in this regard that the mission had provided eight towns - Bondoukou, Bouaké, Daloa, Divo, Gagnoa, Korhogo, San Pedro and Soubré - with a 15 KVA generator each. This was done, he said, "to facilitate the start-up of the technical tasks of digitalization and eliminating double registrations at the main identification coordination centres".

Turning to another form of logistical assistance provided by the mission, Mr. Touré indicated that the transport operation launched in November 2008 to reinforce the mobility of identification supervisors and teams was being pursued. The 120 vehicles and drivers mobilized each day for this task have travelled a total of more than three million kilometres throughout Côte d'Ivoire. In this regard "UNOCI encourages the Government and the parties to the crisis-resolution process as well as the bodies involved in the conduct of these operations to maintain the dynamic needed to guarantee that the deadlines announced for the organization of elections in conformity with international standards are met," the Spokesman said.

Mr. Touré also announced that, in response to requests for assistance issued on 11 and 12 May by the ministers of Defence, Michel Amani NGuessan, and the Interior, Désiré Tagro, UNOCI was taking part in meetings regarding the deployment of 8,000 police officials and gendarmes from the Defence and Security Forces of Côte d'Ivoire (FDS-CI) and the Armed Forces of the Forces Nouvelles (FAFN) in order to identify the level of support it can provide. "We are going to support the Integrated Command Centre (CCI) in accordance with our mandate and resources," he said.

The new spokesman of the Force Licorne, Capt. Arnaud Rudelle, who was a guest at the press conference, announced that the French force in Côte d'Ivoire would be reduced from 1,800 to 900 persons from the end of June. He said this measure stemmed from a change in the format of the Licorne, in keeping with the January announcement by French Prime Minister Francois Filon, following a parliamentary debate on France's external operations, that the French force in Côte d'Ivoire would be restructured.

He explained that the force reduction did not imply any changes in the mandate or mission of the French Licorne force, which will maintain all its equipment, accommodation capacity, and airborne and mechanized resources. All arrangements would be put in place to receive, if necessary, reinforcements that could arrive within 24 hours. "The Force Licorne remains in a position to receive, within a very short space of time, sizeable strategic reinforcements from our forces pre-positioned in Africa or coming from [France], and to act quickly, in the event of a degradation of the situation, in support of UNOCI or to protect our citizens," Capt. Rudelle said.

He also announced the arrival of the new commander of the Licorne, Brig.-Gen. Jean-François Hogard. He replaces Gen. Philipe Houbron, who finishes his tour of duty in Côte d'Ivoire on 5 June, after serving for one year here.