Barroso visits Ivory Coast with Mali in mind

(ABIDJAN) - The chairman of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, was meeting Thursday with Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara, whose country is still seeking stability, with the Mali crisis also be on the agenda.

Before his talks with the Ivorian leader Barroso expressed his support for the peace process in Ivory Coast following the post-electoral crisis of 2010-2011 that left about 3,000 dead, in a speech at an Abidjan university.

He praised strong relations between the EU and Ivory Coast as its "main commercial partner" and the "unfailing support" of Brussels for Ouattara during the showdown with ousted president Laurent Gbagbo.

He called for "national reconciliation" and stressed the need to establish "impartial justice" and restore security, which are two tasks still facing the government since Gbagbo's arrest in April 2011.

As a sign of support for the west African country, Barroso is due to sign a first agreement of budgetary support by the EU to Ivory Coast, in a grant worth 115 million euros (149 million dollars).

With Ouattara, current chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Barroso was also expected to raise the situation in Mali, whose northern regions have been controlled for seven months by Islamists, including Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

ECOWAS, which has made preparations to send a military force to Mali to help rout the Islamists, with US and European logistical support, currently plays "a positive role in the search for a solution to the crisis in Mali", Barroso said.

He expressed EU support to help Mali in the "re-establishment of the rule of law and of a democratic government fully sovereign over the whole territory".

Barroso's visit included a meeting with Bert Koenders, head of the UN Mission in Ivory Coast (ONUCI), as tension rose because of attacks on police and the army, in Abidjan and the west of the country.

These attacks are blamed by authorities on Gbagbo loyalists, but the opposition denies any part in them. They have led to arrests among Gbagbo supporters.