A delegation made up of United Nations experts has held discussions with Cote d'Ivoire's Interior Minister Desire Tagro at the start of a mission to review the success of a UN arms embargo against the country.
"We are here to conduct investigations and enquiries, which are required to determine the success of the enforcement of the UN arms embargo against Cote d'Ivoire," Claudio Gramizzi, head of the UN delegation that arrived in Abidjan Tuesday, said at the end of the meeting.
"The information that we are going to collect in the course of our work will be kept confidential until our findings are reported back to the UN Security Council," Gramizzi said, adding that his group will remain in permanent contact with authorities in the country during the entire process.
Cote d'Ivoire, once a regional bastion of peace and stability, plunged into a crisis after the former New Forces (FN) rebels took control of the northern part of the country in a botched coup attempt against the regime of President Laurent Gbagbo in September 2002.
In 2004, the Security Council passed a resolution calling on all countries to take all the necessary measures to prevent the supply, sale or transfer of arms or military aircraft to Cote d'Ivoire and to curtail the provision of any assistance, advice or training that is military in nature to the country.
The Security Council also established a buffer zone that is patrolled by a contingent of about 7,800 UN and 3,500 French soldiers with a view to monitoring a cease-fire between the government and rebel forces and preventing the two sides from engaging one another militarily.
The country is currently in the process of implementing a peace agreement that was reached between Gbagbo and secretary general Guillaume Soro of the FN in Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Fasso, in March this year.
Source: Xinhua
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