Ivory Coast militias set new disarmament date

ABIDJAN, June 8 (Reuters) - Pro-government militias in the Ivory Coast have promised to begin disarming on June 16 after missing today's deadline to lay down their weapons in preparation for elections.

The West African country has been divided into a rebel north and government south since a brief 2002-2003 civil war. A series of peace deals has failed to reunite the country but progress has been made in recent weeks on a U.N.-backed deal.

''We have no problem, we are ready to advance,'' said militia leader Glofiei Denis Maho at a news conference at the offices of the national disarmament programme in Abidjan, the country's economic capital.

He said militia leaders were unable to start disarmament as planned on Thursday because they needed more time to raise awareness about the process among armed members, which the disarmament programme says number around 2,000.

Rebels and government forces agreed last week that militias should begin disarming on Thursday before they proceed with talks on their own disarmament and formation of a new army comprising elements from the government and the rebels.

Militia groups fought alongside government troops in the west of the world's biggest cocoa producer, where some of the most intense combat took place.

They are still present in the region, wielding power in several towns near the Liberian border.

The country's interim prime minister Charles Konan Banny, mandated by a U.N.-backed peace plan to achieve reunification and carry out elections by the end of October, is under growing pressure with less than five months to complete his mission.

Some analysts and diplomats, mindful of the political squabbling and missed deadlines that have characterised more than three years of peace efforts, doubt whether the elections, originally set for October last year, can take place on time.

REUTERS SK VC0115