Ivory leader makes key concession

Immigrants have been fleeing the country

The president of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, has announced that a referendum will be held next year on changing the constitution.

Correspondents say Mr Gbagbo's move is significant as on the same day, the rebels seemed to soften their demand for his resignation when they submitted their peace proposals to West African mediators.

I am going to hold a referendum to ask the people, 'Do you want to change the constitution, yes or no?'

President Laurent Gbagbo

Until Tuesday, peace talks between the two sides had made little progress and Mr Gbagbo had previously insisted that the constitution was not up for discussion.

Ivory Coast has been divided in two since a mutiny broke out two months ago, with French peacekeepers manning a line of control running across the country.

Mr Gbagbo, who was speaking on national television, pledged to hold a constitutional referendum in 2003, although he gave no date.

Discriminates

The rebels from the Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast (MPCI) say the current constitution discriminates against Muslims.

The MPCI controls the largely Muslim north, while the Christian south is still in the hands of Mr Gbagbo's government.

Muslim opposition leader Alassane Ouattara was barred from the 2000 presidential elections, because one of his parents was reported to have come from neighbouring Burkina Faso.

"I am going to hold a referendum to ask the people, 'Do you want to change the constitution, yes or no?'" the president said.

The concession came after the rebels failed to ask for his resignation and fresh elections, which had been their key demands.

Now they are talking of a change to the political order in Ivory Coast, a less specific demand, which the BBC West Africa correspondent says may be easier for the government to accept.

'Constructive'

Rebel spokesman Sidiki Konate said he could not comment immediately on the president's announcement and would have to examine it closely.

Gbagbo refuses to step down

He said the new proposals contained "very interesting and very constructive elements," according to the Associated Press news agency.

The BBC's Kate Davenport in Abidjan says that Mr Gbagbo's initiative is the first sign that the government might be willing to make concessions to the rebels' demands.

But she says it is unlikely to be welcomed by the youth wing of Mr Gbagbo's party, which has called for a massive patriotic march in two weeks' time to force Mr Ouattara to leave the French embassy where he sought refuge at the beginning of the crisis in September.

Displaced

On Tuesday, there were fears that the peace talks might be affected by two bomb alerts which caused panic in Abidjan.

One incendiary device was exploded safely by the army, while the other, at the main French school in the city, turned out to be a false alarm.

Ouattara was barred from the 2000 election

This came at a time of increased tension in Abidjan after stricter curfews have been imposed and warnings of possible attacks.

More than 200,000 people are estimated to have fled their homes across the Ivory Coast since the conflict erupted, the UN refugee agency said on Tuesday.

Immigrants, refugees and Ivorians suspected of having rebel sympathies are expressing growing concern about their safety in the government-controlled parts of Ivory Coast.

According to the UNHCR, some 40,000 have been affected by the bulldozing of shanty towns in the main city, Abidjan.

Non-governmental organisations say police and gendarmes there have destroyed 13 shanty towns and up to 30 more have been listed for demolition.