- Former Ivorian rebels have transferred their rebel stronghold of Bouake in northern part of the country to the government as the country gears for national polls scheduled for November this year.
According to local reports, Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, who is also the New Forces (FN) leader, presided over the handover ceremony held on Tuesday in Bouake, which has been under the control of the former rebel group since September 2002.
The power transfer came two weeks after Mr Soro officially announced that Cote d'Ivoire will hold the much-anticipated presidential elections on 29 November.
"This is not a symbolic ceremony,” Mr Soro said emphasising that the handing over function is an embodiment of the political will of signatories of the Ouagadougou accord to achieve reunification. The central government and former rebels signed the peace deal in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in 2007.
The transfer of power which was set in January under the latest United Nations-backed peace pact signed at the end of 2008, was twice postponed, and is expected to relinquish rebels control, restoring government authority throughout the West African state.
The breakthrough came in December, when both sides signed their fourth accord in Ouagadougou on the reunification of the army and administration, under which, 5,000 ex-combatants will be integrated into the national army of defense.
Ivorian polls were originally scheduled for October 2005, but the country failed to go ahead with the planned schedule due to a division between the rebel north and government-controlled south, separated by a buffer zone patrolled by UN and French peacekeepers.
The Independent Electoral Commission recently announced that over 6 million nationals have been identified and registered for the upcoming election, more than half the expected voters.
An 8,000-strong United Nations Operation in Cote d'Ivoire is still deployed in the country to maintain peace and order.
Mr Soro was named prime minister by Gbagbo under the 2007 Ouagadougou accord. But twists and turns were reported in the peace process over the sensitive issues of disarmament and voter identification.
Côte d'Ivoire, a leading cocoa and diamond exporter in western Africa, was split in two after a botched coup attempt by New Forces (FN) rebels in 2002, with the north remaining under FN control.
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