Ivory Coast's warring parties signed a deal on Friday after two days of talks in Ghana's capital Accra, setting out a timetable for political reform and rebel disarmament, according to a statement.
Under the terms of the deal, rebel forces holding the north of the West African country will start disarming by October 15 after political reforms which were first agreed in a January 2003 peace agreement are implemented by the end of next month.
Ivory Coast's conflict mushroomed out of a coup attempt in September 2002. Although a peace deal was struck in January 2003, and hostilities declared over in July that year, the country has remained mired in an uneasy stalemate.
The statement said Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo had pledged to use his constitutional powers to push through an amendment to an article in the constitution which prevents an opposition leader from running for head of state.
"Ivory Coast is so strategic in the affairs of Africa and especially West Africa that we all thought we should not sit by and let a sister nation fail," Ghana's President John Kufuor told a news conference.