ABIDJAN, Oct 2, 2009 (AFP) - Ivory Coast's provisional electoral roll has been given to Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, whose government is tasked with organising a long-awaited election, state radio reported Friday.
Officials gave Soro a black box containing two digital databases during a private ceremony on Thursday, the radio said. The databases contain more than 6.3 million registered voters.
On Monday, the list will be given to President Laurent Gbagbo and then it will be put to the political parties.
The list had been due by the beginning of September and the UN Security Council on Tuesday expressed concern at delays in preparing for an election in Ivory Coast on November 29.
The definitive version of the electoral roll will be ready when each party has had a chance to study the list, but the Ivorian media says it marks a radical change from the "historical files" of 2000.
Registrars "validated more than 2.6 million people from the historical files, registered 904,800 new Ivoirians, more than 49,700 foreigners and 2.7 million people who were nowhere in the historical files," the Fraternite-Matin pro-government daily reported.
Gbagbo's mandate ran out in 2005.
But Ivory Coast has been split in two since a foiled coup in September 2002 by Soro's rebel New Forces, which hold the northern half of the country. Under a series of peace pacts, steps have been taken to restore national unity.
The elections are seen as the culminating phase of the process.
The UN Security Council on Tuesday said it planned to review the situation again by October 15 and to "react as appropriate toward those who would block the progress of the electoral process."
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