U.N. preps for Ivory Coast summit in Ghana

Accra, Ghana, Jul. 28 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was in Ghana Wednesday preparing for the West African summit aimed at restarting the deadlocked Ivory Coast peace process.

He held talks with Mohamed ibn Chambas, the executive secretary of the Economic Community of West African States, on the strategy for the summit opening Thursday, which the secretary-general organized in an attempt to salvage the 2003 Linas-Marcoussis peace agreement between Ivory Coast's government, the opposition and rebel groups.

Annan also was scheduled to meet Ivorian Prime Minister Seydou Diarra, the summit co-host, as well as Ghanaian President John Kufuor and South African president Thabo Mbeki.

In addition, the secretary-general is to have a special private meeting Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo.

Talks on the crisis-ridden Darfur region of Sudan, although not formally scheduled, were expected to be held on the sidelines of the summit.