Gbagbo seeks Moroccan King's mediation to resolve crisis in Cote d'Ivoire

Cote d'Ivoire president, Laurent Gbagbo, has asked King Mohammed VI of Morocco to make efforts for mediation in order to resolve the crisis in the west African country, the Moroccan foreign ministry said in a release.

An envoy from Gbagbo handed the Moroccan sovereign on Wednesday a message, informing him on the latest developments of the situation in the country that has been split by an on-off war since September 2002.

The envoy, Sangare Abou Drahamane, first vice president of the popular front party, was received by king Mohammed VI in the royal palace of Casablanca.

The king reiterated at the meeting the particular attention Morocco grants to stability and peace in Cote d'Ivoire, the unity of its people and reconciliation between different parties.

Last November, the Moroccan monarch deplored the situation in Cote d'Ivoire, calling the "Ivorian people and their representatives to make dialogue prevail, and to restore unity and social harmony."

Morocco dispatched last May a contingent to contribute to efforts by the international community to put an end to the bloodshed in the west African country.

Despite a French-brokered peace deal agreed in 2003, fighting has broken out sporadically in Cote d'Ivoire.