Statements on CI

Cote d’Ivoire: Meeting in Accra to Form a Government of National Reconciliation

Philip T. Reeker, Deputy Spokesman
Washington, DC
March 6, 2003

The United States calls on all parties meeting in Accra, Ghana, to cooperate with Ivorian Prime Minister Diarra to form a Government of national reconciliation. The task is urgent. Time is running out in Cote d’Ivoire. The economy is in rapid decline. Large areas of the country are without effective governance. The people of Cote d’Ivoire are understandably impatient at the lack of progress towards resolving this crisis.

All parties in Cote d’Ivoire must realize that there is no military solution to this crisis. No winners will emerge if Cote d’Ivoire slides into civil war.

The risks of increasing anarchy and war grow with each failure to form a government of National Reconciliation as called for in the Marcoussis Agreements. Now is the time for President Gbagbo, opposition parties and rebel leaders to put aside partisan differences and act together to protect the unity and well-being of their country.

 

Released on March 6, 2003