Ivory Coast vote possible by December-president

ABIDJAN, Aug 7 (Reuters) Long-delayed elections in war-divided Ivory Coast could take place in December, President Laurent Gbagbo said, ahead of a schedule set by a March peace deal which reconciled him with former rebel foes.

''If we are all of good faith, if each is determined, as I am, that elections take place, we can organise the presidential election by the end of this year, as soon as December 2007,'' he said late yesterday on the eve of independence day celebrations.

Gbagbo's five-year mandate expired in October 2005 but the country has been divided into a rebel-held north and a government south since a 2002-2003 civil war, in which rebels tried to oust him, rendering elections impossible.

The rebel New Forces agreed to disarm under the latest peace agreement which foresees elections in January 2008 once the country is reunited. Gbagbo named rebel leader Guillaume Soro prime minister in April, tasking him with preparing the vote.

Tensions which had run high since the brief conflict have dissipated since the home-grown deal, which followed a string of failed internationally backed initiatives.

On his first visit to the north last month since it was seized in the fighting, Gbagbo presided over a peace ceremony and burned weapons with Soro. He said then elections must happen ''fast, fast, fast'' to cheers and applause from thousands.

But progress to peace has so far been largely symbolic. The rebels have still to commit to a specific disarmament timetable and several million people must be issued identity papers to enable eligible Ivorians among them to take part in the vote.

A previous UN-backed peace deal called for the postponed elections to take place by October last year. But pro-Gbagbo and opposition sides squabbled over details of how the vote should be organised and some of these issues have yet to be settled.

Reuters PY GC1529