Ivory Coast rebels reject peace accord

LOME, Togo -- Ivory Coast rebels rejected a draft peace plan seeking to end a nearly 2-month-old uprising that has claimed hundreds of lives, and were preparing a counterproposal, a spokesman said Thursday.

The setback comes after two weeks of talks meant to end peacefully a conflict that has split Ivory Coast in two, crippled the West African nation's economy and raised fears of regional destabilization.

The draft peace accord was written by mediators and the Ivory Coast government, but rebel spokesman Sidiki Konate said Thursday it did not address key rebel demands.

"We read the proposals. They are not good for us," Konate said after meeting Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema, who is hosting the talks in his capital, Lome.

The rebels will continue negotiating, Konate said. They previously walked out of negotiations, accusing President Laurent Gbagbo's government of killing opposition figures and civilians.

The head of the government's negotiating team, Laurent Dona Fologo, said the government had already made major concessions by agreeing to push for an amnesty law for soldiers accused of plotting against the state, and allowing soldiers in exile to return.

Fologo called on the rebels "to act in good faith by making major compromises so that normal life and economic activity" can resume.

Peace talks have stalled over a rebel demand that President Gbagbo step down and clear the way for new elections in six months, and over Gbagbo's insistence that rebels lay down their weapons.

The talks also have been undermined by a string of allegedly politically motivated slayings and kidnappings in Ivory Coast's commercial capital, Abidjan. The government has advanced the curfew's start in the lagoon-side city by two hours.

Defense Minister Bertin Kadet said the curfew was changed Wednesday because of a surge in violence, particularly killings by armed bandits, in Abidjan since the peace talks began. He said previously that rebels infiltrated the city.

Rebels, including 800 recently dismissed soldiers, launched a failed coup attempt Sept. 19. They since have seized the north of the country, with the front line running just south of the rebel stronghold of Bouake, Ivory Coast's second-largest city.

The rebels say they are fighting to protect the rights of predominantly Muslim northern Ivorians, who complain of discrimination and harassment by the Christian and animist southern tribes that traditionally have dominated the government.

Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands have fled their homes during the uprising.

A cease-fire was agreed to on Oct. 17 and is being monitored by more than 1,000 French troops. A 1,500-strong West African force is set to replace them this month.

The U.S. State Department on Wednesday condemned what it called widespread human rights abuses by both sides and called for ending the recruitment of child soldiers and disbanding self-defense groups.

In villages across Ivory Coast, youths armed with machetes and hunting rifles have set up roadblocks, stopping and searching travelers and often demanding money to allow people through. They say they are protecting their homes.