Nigerian president on Ivory Coast mission

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo arrived in Ivory Coast today on a mission to help resolve the war-divided West African nation’s latest crisis.

Obasanjo, who did not talk to reporters on arrival, was due to meet Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo and other top officials in Abidjan before travelling to the northern city of Bouake for talks with rebel leader Guillaume Soro, the presidency said in a statement.

On Monday, Gbagbo began a UN-backed extended year in office that has been fiercely opposed by opposition leaders and rebels who control the northern half of the country.

Gbagbo cancelled presidential elections initially set to take place on Sunday, citing rebels’ failure to disarm. Loyalist militias, however, have also failed to lay down weapons under a peace deal despite repeated pledges to do so.

Rebels say Gbagbo has no constitutional right to stay in power after Sunday and some Cabinet members say they’ll no longer recognise his authority. Gbagbo has vowed to stay on until elections are held.

The African Union and the UN Security Council have tried to help resolve the crisis, backing the prolonging of Gbagbo’s mandate and calling for the appointment of a new prime minister to help lead the country toward elections within one year.

Obasanjo is the current chairman of the 53-nation African Union.

There has been no word on who, when or how a new prime minister will be chosen, though rebels want Soro to take the post.

Incumbent Prime Minister Seydou Diarra, though regarded as neutral, is seen as weak and ineffectual.

Rebels seized the northern half of the world’s largest cocoa producer in 2002 after a failed coup attempt kicked off months of fighting.

About 6,000 UN troops and 4,000 French peacekeepers are deployed in the country.