Ivorian Leader Meets Rebel Demand

Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo has met a major demand of the country’s rebel groups by clearly signing over powers to a consensus prime minister under a peace plan, officials said Saturday.

News of the apparent concession came a day after international monitors accused both sides of violating cease-fires and endangering efforts to end a conflict that has left thousands dead in the world’s top cocoa grower.

Gbagbo said he already had signed a decree giving new Prime Minister Seydou Diarra a free hand to run a coalition Cabinet including rebel ministers.

But it was only in the decree signed Friday that he clearly set out the “delegation of powers.”

In a sign the rebels might be softening their stance, they promised to send ministers in a power-sharing government to the main city of Abidjan on Monday. They had postponed plans to take up their new jobs after fighting flared again last week.

After years of ethnic rivalry, Ivory Coast tumbled into war after a failed coup in September. The main rebel faction holds the largely Muslim north, while two other groups have grabbed parts of the west.

Continuing mistrust has hampered the establishment of the coalition government meant to disarm the rebels, restructure the security forces and restore state authority across the country of 16 million.

On Friday, international peace monitors said both sides had violated cease-fires over the last week and were endangering efforts to end the war. French and West African forces try to keep the peace, but do not have troops everywhere.