Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister Oluyemi Adeniji, representing the mediators, said the transition period is expected to end in October 2006 and that Banny would not be eligible for the 2006 presidential elections.

Presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and Olusegun Obasanjo from Nigeria had arrived Dec. 4 to help select a prime minister acceptable to Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, the opposition as well as rebels who have controlled the northern half of the country since a 2002-2003 civil war. The latter had already rejected a shortlist that did not include their leader, Guillaume Soro.

The country has been on edge since Gbagbo canceled October elections, blaming the war and the rebels' failure to disarm. Rebels and opposition leaders have called for Gbagbo to step down, but he has vowed to stay in office for an unprecedented extra year after being elected for a five-year term in 2000.

About 10,000 French and U.N. peacekeepers are deployed in Ivory Coast.

The Japan Times Weekly: Dec. 10, 2005
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