U.N. envoy urges Ivorian reconciliation

It is essential that all Ivorians embark on a unified path toward national reconciliation, the new U.N. special envoy to the country said from Abidjan. Bert Koenders, a former Dutch politician and special envoy to Ivory Coast, said upon his arrival in Abidjan that reconciliation was his top priority. "The people of Ivory Coast have chosen a new path and it is now essential for all Ivorians to work toward the restoration of national unity and reconciliation," he said in a statement. Ivory Coast was pushed to the brink of war following a November election meant to unite a country divided by civil war in 2003. Alassane Ouattara was sworn in as president in April after French forces helped detain former President Laurent Gbagbo but not before thousands of people were killed and many more displaced. Koenders said the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast was there to provide assistance and security to the Ivorian people. "Nothing more, but nothing less," he said. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees noted that it worked alongside Liberian refugee commissions to help repatriate more than 100 Ivorians who fled the post-election crisis. vory Coast and Liberia signed a voluntary repatriate initiative in August alongside the UNHCR. More than 163,000 displaced Ivorians remain in neighboring Liberia, however. Koenders replaced Y.J. Choi as special envoy to Ivory Coast.