Ivorian rebels reject president's offer

Immigrants have been fleeing the country

Rebels in Ivory Coast have dismissed President Laurent Gbagbo's promise to hold a constitutional referendum next year.

Mr Gbagbo said on Tuesday that Ivorians would be asked if they wanted to amend the constitution, one of the key demands of the rebels.

They speak of a referendum, but that is only one step

Guillaume Soro Rebel leader

Mr Gbagbo's move appeared 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.

Three weeks of peace talks have made little progress. 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.

He had previously insisted that the constitution was not up for discussion.

Discriminates

A spokesman for the Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast (MPCI) rebels, Sidiki Konate, said that they did not take Mr Gbagbo's promise seriously and that they were on their guard.

Mr Konate told the BBC that all decisions must come from Lome, in Togo, where peace talks have been taking place.

"Our demands are a whole. There must be complete and far-reaching solutions," rebel political leader Guillaume Soro told Reuters news agency.

"They speak of a referendum, but that is only one step."

The rebels have said 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.

Patriotic march

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.

Ouattara was barred from the 2000 election

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.

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.

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