13/03/2007

St. Egidio community brokers peace deal in Ivory Coast

Ouagadougou, Mar. 13, 2007 (CWNews.com) - President Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast has promised to do everything in his power to implement a peace agreement signed earlier this month with rebels in the African country. The peace deal, signed on March 3-4, was mediated by the St. Egidio community.

Continuing their efforts to facilitate peace talks especially in African countries, leaders of the St. Egidio community met with government officials of Ivory Coast and representatives of rebel groups in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. That country�s President Blaise Compaor� played a key role in the peace talks as well.

Ivory Coast has been nearly paralyzed by civil war in recent months, with rebels holding much of the country�s northern area. An estimated 1 million people have fled from their homes to avoid the fighting, with many settling temporarily in Burkina Faso.