[President Chirac made an opening statement]

[President Mbeki]

SG: (Translated from French) I would also like to thank President Chirac and the Governement of France for having invited us to Paris and for having brilliantly facilitated the negotiations in Marcoussis as well as the Summit that has taken place here. I hope that when they return, all the political leaders who participated and signed the Agreement will explain to their population what President Chirac just said. An end must be put to war, peace must be brought about, in order to create an atmosphere where people can work together calmly and respectfully of the Constitution.

(Continues in English) I am a neighbour of Ivory Coast. The Ivory Coast I knew was a peaceful Ivory Coast, which was an island of stability in the region. Today, Ivory Coast is in turmoil and in distress and it is something that most of us in the region would never have expected.

In Paris, the leaders had the courage and the wisdom to come to an agreement, an agreement among themselves, an agreement that they negotiated here and signed. And if it is applied in good faith and in a sustained manner, we will come out of this crisis. This morning, as you have heard, the international community that participated in this meeting has indicated to them what it will do in concrete terms to support Ivory Coast if they work honestly to implement this agreement. This is not going to be easy, but I think the Ivorians who have been asking for peace, who have been asking for the end of the conflict, who have been suffering for the past few months, deserve stability and peace. The leaders have an obligation to give it to them. It is not acceptable that those who have taken up guns come to Paris and try to resolve it and others take to the street because one is discussing peace here in Paris. As we have said, the objective was not to reward anybody but really put an end to the conflict and respect the territorial integrity of the country and get them back to the Ivory Coast that we know. And I hope the population will work with the leaders, will accept the decisions taken here in Paris and return the Ivory Coast to the Ivory Coast that we all knew and admired. Thank you.

[President Gbagbo]

[President Wade]

[President Bongo]

[Mr. Romano Prodi ]

Q: I am addressing my first question to Mr. Kofi Annan … Actually, it is good that an Accord has been signed and an initiative has been taken by the French Government. I don't know what kind of message that this will send because concessions have been made to the rebels. And according to some sources that are very close to the negotiations yesterday, it happened that you were very active in trying to convince the President of Ivory Coast to accept the terms of the Accord. I don't know what you think the message this will send to Africa. For instance, this is kind of legitimizing the use of force to seize power ?

SG: I think that throughout this conference, clarifications have been given as to the purpose and objective of the Agreement. First of all, this is an agreement negotiated by the Ivoirian parties in Maroussis before the Heads of State got here. It is an agreement entered into willingly by all the parties to bring peace, stability and maintain the territorial integrity of the country. What has happened here in Paris is that the Heads of State have supported that process and the implementation of the Agreement had begun. They agreed among themselves there will be a government of national unity. There will be a Prime Minister designated by the President. And I hope the Prime Minister, the President and the Cabinet are going to work effectively to implement the Agreement that all the Ivoirian political forces have agreed. I think you have to understand that in these situations, you have to really get people together to move to settle the differences that they have and this is what the Ivoirians have done here. The Agreement and peace cannot be imposed. The inspiration for a viable and stable peace has to spring from the leaders of Ivory Coast and this is what happened in Marcoussis. Yes, there was facilitation, they were encouraged, they were helped and they are the ones who have to go back and make it happen with the support of the international community. And this is what they have agreed to do. That's why I appeal to all of them to go back and explain to their leaders and work with them to bring stability to the country. As President Gbagbo indicated, whatever they agreed to and what is being done is within the Constitution and one is trying to re-establish democratic rule and stability in the country.

Q: What measures does the United Nations consider taking to implement the Accord that has been signed?

SG: I expect the Security Council to discuss the question of Cote d'Ivoire on Tuesday and I would expect it down the line to discuss further concrete measures to support the Agreement. For the moment, we are very active on the humanitarian front with the internally displaced people and the refugees we are assisting. We are bringing in food to help the needy. We have been very active on the question of human rights ; we just sent in a team to investigate human rights abuses and the report should be coming out next week. We would want to work with the Government to strengthen the respect for human rights and the institutions. But on the question of further measures, I will need to discuss it with the Council when I am back in New York and I am not at liberty to go into details. Thank you.

[President Chirac made a concluding remark]