BOUAKE, Ivory Coast — The main rebel group in Ivory Coast will join the government and other political parties in Paris peace talks later this month, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said Saturday.
De Villepin, wrapping up a two-day visit to the former French colony, met leaders of the northern-based Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast in their stronghold of Bouake, the West African country's second-biggest city.
Afterward, rebel chief Guillaume Soro said his group, which controls the mainly Muslim northern half of the country, was open to a negotiated peace.
We are "entirely and totally ready to take the path of a negotiated, political solution," he said, promising that his forces would respect a repeatedly violated cease-fire with government troops. "We are concerned about sparing the lives of Ivorians."
