Chirac calls for new efforts on Ivory Coast polls

BUCHAREST, Sep 28 (Reuters) French President Jacques Chirac urged war-divided Ivory Coast on Thursday to follow the example of the Democratic Republic of Congo and hold free elections to facilitate reconciliation.

''The (Democratic Republic of) Congo embarked on the path of peace and stability that will open an era of reconciliation and prosperity, Chirac told a summit of French-speaking countries in Romanian capital of Bucharest yesterday.

''I wish to see a similar reconciliation in the Ivory Coast which today undergoes many hardships,'' he said.

Ivory Coast, the world's No 1 cocoa grower, has been split into a rebel-held north and government-controlled south since a brief 2002-2003 civil war.

Repeated reunification attempts have foundered amid political bickering and presidential elections already postponed by a year look sure to miss an October 31 deadline, partly due to failure of a national identity scheme.

French troops and a United Nations peacekeeping force man a buffer zone splitting the country in two but government supporters accuse the troops of showing bias towards the rebels.

''Only open, trustworthy and free elections based on renewed electoral lists (in the Ivory Coast) can facilitate overcoming the crisis,'' Chirac said.

Congo's first free elections in 40 years were held on July 30. The polls were intended to offer the vast country a new start after years of war fuelled by the country's mineral riches, killed an estimated 4 million people.

Chirac said he hoped African Union President Denis Sassou Nguesso would take ''all necessary steps'' in consultations on Ivory Coast's electoral process.

The biennial gathering of French-speaking countries in Bucharest, brought together dozens of leaders and 1,500 delegates from more than 60 states with large French-speaking populations.

Ivory Coast interim Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny attended summit but made no public appearances.

REUTERS PR HT1657