'Big four' talking in Ivory Coast

The 'big four' hold Ivory Coast's future in their hands

President Laurent Gbagbo is meeting three political rivals for a second day of talks to discuss ways of resolving differences which have led to three years of military and ethnic unrest.

On Tuesday, "the big four" ended their first meeting with smiles and handshakes as they left the presidential palace in the Ivorian capital, Yamoussoukro.

It's difficult to expect something positive in the immediate future

African diplomat

No statement has been made so far.

The symbolic gathering between the two former heads of state, a former prime minister and the current president follows a national reconciliation conference at the end of last year, during which two of "the big four" returned from exile.

The BBC's Kate Davenport at the talks said that the four men sat at a square table with Mr Gbagbo facing ex-PM Alassane Ouattara, and former military ruler General Robert Guei sitting opposite deposed President Henri Konan Bedie.

Deep divisions

There is no agenda to the talks and the issues which have proved so divisive in recent Ivorian politics are unlikely to be resolved.

An African diplomat in the largest city, Abidjan, told Reuters news agency: "It's difficult to expect something positive in the immediate future."

The courts say Ouattara is not Ivorian

For several years now Mr Ouattara's contested nationality has been at the heart of all major political calculations in the country.

Because he is a Muslim from the north, his nationality has become a symbol of religious, national and ethnic differences.

It is an issue which has turned Ivory Coast from being a relatively successful economic lynchpin of the West African region, into a country where political tension is the rule.

Former leader

The reconciliation forum recommended that Mr Ouattara be given Ivorian nationality.

But President Gbagbo, who came to power partly thanks to the fact that Mr Ouattara was excluded from presidential elections, has said he will not interfere with the courts on this issue.

President Gbagbo says the courts must decide

Until that issue is resolved, political divisions are likely to remain.

The talks are also the first meeting between ousted former President Bedie and the man who toppled him in a 1999 military coup, General Guei.

Mr Bedie had until now refused to sit at the same table with General Guei.

General Guei is also unhappy that his status as a former leader of the country is not recognised.