Ivorian ex-rebels meet in Bouake 'to consider' whether to quit government Paris AFP (World Service) in English 1740 GMT 22 Sep 03 AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE Monday, September 22, 2003 Journal Code: 2131 Language: ENGLISH Record Type: FULLTEXT Document Type: Daily Report; News Word Count: 489 Ivory Coast's former rebels held a crisis meeting Monday in their central stronghold city Bouake to consider whether to quit the power-sharing government, formed in a bid to restore peace to the divided west African country. Guillaume Soro, the former rebel leader who is communications minister in the transition government, was huddled with three other ministers and military leaders of his group, rebaptized as the "new forces" since they joined the government. One year after they led an uprising, which plunged Ivory Coast into war, the former rebels were considering ways to protest what they say are President Laurent Gbagbo's deliberate attempts to stall the peace process. Both groups declared the civil war officially over on July 4, five months after a French-backed peace pact was signed in Marcoussis, near Paris, but the country remains divided and its government barely operational. Prime Minister Seydou Diarra complained in August that he lacked the power to carry out his job because of outstanding rows about which camp would be given key government portfolios -- the defence and interior ministries. The New Forces have repeatedly challenged Gbagbo's choice of defence and interior minister -- announced earlier this month after six months of deadlock. Gbagbo, the purported target of the September 19 uprising last year, said at the weekend that efforts at national reconciliation had produced only "a meagre harvest." The key to peace, he said, was getting the former rebels to disarm. "Make those who took up arms against Ivory Coast listen to reason," he said in an appeal to other countries, particularly France, which has deployed 4,000 soldiers to help keep peace here. On Friday (19 September), opposition leader Alassane Ouattara threw himself into the political fray, accusing the Ivorian peace parti cipants of suffering from a "lack of political will." The world's foremost cocoa producer, Ivory Coast was once a beacon of stability for turbulent west Africa, but now its administration and judicial system carry out almost all their work in the south, and schools and hospitals are barely functional in the rebel-held north. Clashes with renegade rebel elements, moreover, have left two French peacekeepers dead and authorities in Paris in August uncovered a new coup plot, allegedly led by a former putschist. The head of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) also warned last week that the peace process was in danger. Mohammed ibn Chambas went so far as to complain that Ivorian politicians have been making "very unhelpful statements," and warned that funding for an ECOWAS peacekeeping mission could run out before the end of the year.