Mediators say Ivory Coast rebels ready to sign truce -- again

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast -- Rebels controlling the northern half of Ivory Coast agreed Wednesday to a truce with the government they attempted to overthrow, West African mediators said.

The deal paved the way for the first meeting between the warring sides Thursday, when the truce was expected to be signed in the rebel-held city of Bouake.

The envoys, who were still working out the last details of the plan, expected to fly from the commercial capital, Abidjan, to Bouake for the signing, said Mohammed Ibn Chambas, executive secretary of the regional economic bloc behind the initiative.

They would be accompanied by a Cabinet minister who would sign on behalf of the government. It was not immediately clear which minister that would be, or who would sign for the rebels.

Earlier attempt failed

An earlier attempt at a cease-fire foundered at the last minute on the government's insistence the rebels disarm first.

The new plan -- initiated by Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, who heads the Economic Community of West African States -- calls for the rebels to confine themselves to their quarters, with their weapons, so peace talks can begin.

Government and rebel officials did not immediately comment on the announcement. However, President Laurent Gbagbo said previously his government accepts the proposals of the mediators.

The rebels indicated Sunday that they also agreed "in principal" to the plan, but took four days to give final confirmation they would sign -- forcing mediators to repeatedly postpone their trip to Bouake.

"I'm praying that tomorrow we will sign the peace accord," Senegalese Foreign Minister Tidiane Gadio said. "I'm not going to Bouake for anything else."

The rebels have seized most of the northern half of the country since their bloody coup attempt Sept. 19. Hundreds have died in the fighting.

At the core of the insurgency are some 800 ex-soldiers, many dismissed from the army for suspected disloyalty. The uprising has also gathered support from Ivorians in the north, who complain the country's southern-based government discriminates against them.

Mediation efforts were stalled over the weekend by fighting in Daloa, a key southwestern cocoa city captured by the rebels, then reclaimed by government forces in a counterattack. Residents said Daloa was quiet Wednesday.