Cote d'Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo on Tuesday sent his envoy to the central city of Bouake for a new round of "direct dialogue" with the New Forces (NF) group after the two sides signed a recent peace deal, the NF said on its website.

Desire Tagro, advisor to President Gbagbo, went to the NF stronghold of Bouake for talks with Gillaume Soro, the leader of the group, on steps to implement the peace accord reached earlier this month.

The two sides were set to meet for the second and last phase of negotiations in order to put the Ouagadougou accord to practice, said Soro's cabinet minister Sidiki Konate.
 
The discussion may lead to a return to Ouagadougou, capital of neighboring Burkina Faso, to deal with "the second and last part of the direct dialogue," he added.

Konate also predicted the formation of a new government headed by Soro, who said on Monday that Gbagbo had offered him the post of prime minister.

"I have not yet sufficiently tested his sincerity, but if I accept, that will be with the assurance that we go to elections," Soro said in an interview with the French daily Le Monde.

The NF secretary general said that the Ouagadougou accord has settled important problems and that it is not limited to a compromise on power sharing.

The rival sides opened key negotiations in Ouagadougou on Feb. 5, after Gbagbo called for "direct dialogue" with the NF rebels last December.

With the mediation of Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaore, Gbagbo and Soro signed the Ouagadougou peace accord on March 4, which calls for the formation of a new government and the removal of the so-called zone of trust that separates the government-ruled south from the rebel-held north in this West African country.

There are 7,800 UN peacekeepers and 3,500 French soldiers serving in Cote d'Ivoire, which has been divided since a failed coup to oust Gbagbo in September 2002.

The accord also provides for the process of identifying the population, disarming and disbanding the rebel forces, and establishing a unified army in preparation for the presidential elections scheduled for Oct. 31.

(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2007)