Ouattara and Bedie expected in Accra today

Signatories to the Marcousis Accord crafted to end the crisis in Cote D'Ivoire would meet in Accra on Thursday to resolve differences that are hindering the full implementation of the deal.

In this connection, compromise Prime Minister Elimane Seydou Diarra on Monday held a meeting with the rebels, now called New Force, in Bouake to iron out any differences for the allocation of portfolios for the new government.

Mr Kwabena Agyepong, the President's Press Secretary, told Journalists in Accra that Premier Diarra; Allasane Ouattara, former Ivorian Prime Minister and key opposition leader; former President Henri Konan Bedie; representatives of the New Force; and the UN Secretary General's representative on the Ivorian crisis were expected to attend the meeting.

He said the meeting was another attempt to help Premier Diarra weld together all the factions to form a national unity government in Cote d'Ivoire.

The main rebel group, which controls more than half the country and has its headquarters in Bouake, has been insisting on taking the defence and interior portfolios, which, they said, was allocated to them under the Accord reached in France.

President Laurent Gbagbo has faced a wave of protests from the main city, Abidjan, over the deal.

Mr Agyepong said the meeting between Premier Diarra and the New Force in Bouake was to iron out the difficulties about the composition of the Cabinet. The meeting is to offer them other portfolios apart from those of Defence and the Interior.