Hollande to meet Ivory Coast president

The French President Francois Hollande will meet here on Thursday with the President of Ivory Coast Alassane Ouattara to discuss the future of relations between the two countries in addition to the crisis in Mali. A statement from the Elysee today said that the bilateral talks will be channeled in the direction of giving “new impetus” to relations between the France and the Ivory Coast after a decade-long tensions in the volatile conditions in the African country. The intervention of the French unicorn Force (la force Licorne) in Abidjan was crucial in putting an end to the crisis that followed the elections in December 2010 – April 2011 and killed about three thousand people, and Ouattara’s taking the power after his victory in the election over Laurent Gbagbo, the former president, whose relations with Paris remained very bad for a long time. Alassane Ouattara is currently the President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which gave Bamako until July 31 to form a “government of national unity.” ECOWAS intends to send a regional force to help Mali’s army to restore the north, awaiting UN authorization and logistic help.