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Gove
rnment says neither the African Union nor the United Nations
Security Council has asked President Thabo Mbeki to step down as
mediator in the Ivory Coast peace process.
President Mbeki's spokesperson Murphy Morobe said there was no
truth to reports that appeared in some newspapers, apparently
sourced from French news agencies that the two multilateral bodies
had asked the South African president to step down as
mediator.
Morobe said it's "quite clear" that there are forces that are "bent
on seeking" to destabilise the region.
"It is indeed unfortunate that sections of the French media have
lent themselves to such a misinformation campaign," he said.
"Suggestions carried in a morning newspaper quoting Le Monde about
a meeting allegedly 'presided over by AU chairperson and Nigerian
President Olusegun Obasanjo' are nothing but fabrications," said
Morobe.
Defence Minister Mosioua Lekota last week told the media that no
such request from AU and UN was received saying the only such
request was from the rebel group New Forces.
"New Forces issued a statement saying they no longer have to do
with the mediation," he said.
But Lekota said the "New Forces sent the letter to the wrong
people" because they should have sent it to AU chairperson Olusegun
Obasanjo, as he is the one that mandated President Mbeki to mediate
in the Ivory Coast peace process. Morobe explained that the
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