Ivory Coast's rival faction leaders met on home territory for the first time on Tuesday since the start of a three-year-old conflict, for talks aimed at reviving a stagnant peace process in the divided nation.
President Laurent Gbagbo, rebel leader Guillaume Soro and opposition politicians gathered at a huge glass and marble conference centre in the capital Yamoussoukro under the protection of UN peacekeepers, government and rebel soldiers.
"It is definitely a good sign. We definitely hope this is the breakthrough we have been looking for," said Margherita Amodeo, spokeswoman for the UN mission in Ivory Coast.
The former French colony has been split in two since 2002, when rebels tried to oust Gbagbo and seized the northern half of the world's top cocoa grower.
A buffer zone between the two sides is patrolled by a 7,000-strong UN force backed up by 4,000 French troops.
Efforts to reunite the country, once a bastion of stability and economic success in West Africa, have been characterised by delays, political squabbling and on-off violence. Analysts say the factions lack political will to reach a settlement.
Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny, a central banker installed in December under a UN-backed peace plan, has promoted the talks as a means of unblocking the process.
The last time Gbagbo and Soro met was in June in Pretoria, during South African President Thabo Mbeki's ill-fated attempt to lead foreign mediation efforts.
The country's two main opposition leaders, former President Henri Konan Bedie and ex-Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara, also attended the meeting.
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