Nigeria seeks deal on Ivorian PM

Mr Obasanjo (r) received a warm welcome from Mr Gbagbo (l)

Nigeria's president has held talks with rival factions in Ivory Coast in a bid to find the state a new prime minister.

Olusegun Obasanjo, who is also chairman of the African Union, said he had asked for recommendations and a name would be agreed "in the shortest time possible".

The candidate must be acceptable to all parties and will have to lead Ivory Coast towards free and fair elections.

Polls were due to be held last Sunday but the country is still divided after rebels took the north three years ago.

A recent United Nations resolution allowed Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo to remain in power for a year after the elections' postponement, and urged that a new prime minister be appointed.

List of names

Mr Obasanjo arrived to great fanfare, as drummers played and women in long white robes danced.

He spent the day meeting his Ivorian counterpart Mr Gbagbo, the outgoing Prime Minister Seydou Diarra, the political opposition and the mediation group.

The mediators - from South Africa, the UN and Economic Community of West African States - will study the list of nominees to try to find a candidate acceptable to all, Mr Obasanjo said.

"We are doing everything humanly possible to do it within the shortest time possible," he said, before leaving for Nigeria.

Mr Obasanjo said the question would be settled in the coming days or weeks.

The leader of the New Forces rebels, Guillaume Soro, said on Sunday that he would be the new prime minister but this is extremely unlikely, says the BBC's James Copnall in Abidjan.

The UN has said that the new prime minister should be acceptable to all - which rules out Mr Soro, our correspondent says - and that the new appointee should have reinforced powers.

These powers include areas such as defence, security and electoral matters.

The opposition interpret this as meaning the prime minister will be the de facto head of state, our correspondent adds.

Mr Gbagbo, who will stay in office for up to a year despite his mandate running out, insists he retains full powers.