Ivorian rebel rules out poll bid

Soro's leadership is under threat

The leader of Ivory Coast's former rebels has said he will not stand in presidential elections next year.

Guillaume Soro's announcement comes amid reports of a split in the New Forces movement and follows the fatal shooting of another senior official.

Meanwhile, a United Nations official has arrived in Abidjan to investigate reports of racism and xenophobia.

The New Forces, who control the Muslim north, accuse government supporters of attacking foreigners and northerners.

The government accuses foreign media of giving Ivory Coast the reputation of a xenophobic country.

Land dispute

Mr Soro is communications minister in a shaky power-sharing government.

"I solemnly declare in front of you. I will not be a candidate in the 2005 elections," Mr Soro said.

Correspondents say his leadership of the New Forces has been increasingly challenged by one of its military chiefs, Ibrahim Coulibaly.

One of Mr Coulibaly's allies, Chief Adams, was shot dead on Sunday in the northern rebel stronghold of Korhogo, although New Forces officials say it was an accident.

But Mr Coulibaly said the killing showed how serious the split had become.

"They [Soro's allies] have crossed the red line, the bloody red line, in turning their arms against one of their own brothers," he said in a statement.

The UN special rapporteur for human rights, Doudou Diene, says he will speak to all sides on the Ivory Coast conflict over the next 10 days.

Last month, 36 people were killed in one village in the coffee- and cocoa-growing west in a land dispute between ethnic groups.

During the 18-month division of Ivory Coast, French citizens, Muslims and immigrants say they have been attacked in government-held areas.