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Côte d'Ivoire

Côte d'Ivoire: Ouattara offers jobs to Gbagbo ministers

By Loucoumane Coulibaly and David Lewis

ABIDJAN, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Ivory Coast's presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara offered an olive branch to members of his rival Laurent Gbagbo's cabinet on Monday, offering to include them in his government if Gbagbo steps down.

The move is the latest manoeuvre in a power-struggle that has enveloped the West African state since an election that yielded two winners -- Ouattara with international backing, and Gbagbo with support of the nation's top legal body and military.

The Nov. 28 poll was meant to reunite the former regional economic star after a 2002-03 civil war, but analysts warned the dispute could trigger fresh unrest, putting at risk West Africa's fragile gains at stability.

"If Laurent Gbagbo agrees to leave power quietly, the ministers from his party would be welcome in the government we plan to lead," Guillaume Soro, Ivory Coast's premier who has pledged to serve Ouattara, told France's Europe 1 radio.

The political deadlock in the world's top cocoa grower comes after its Constitutional Council -- run by a staunch Gbagbo ally -- scrapped hundreds of thousands of votes from Ouattara strongholds, reversing provisional results from the election commission that had given Ouattara a win.

U.S. President Barack Obama has sided with Ouattara, leading calls from the United Nations, France, the European Union, the African Union and West African bloc ECOWAS asking that Gbagbo accept the election commission outcome.

Gbagbo has scorned the international rejection as an affront to Ivorian sovereignty and has threatened to expel the U.N. Ivory Coast envoy for "interference".

Citing a "breakdown of governance", the World Bank and the African Development Bank said they would reassess aid, adding pressure on Gbagbo.

"In line with our policies, we will continue to closely monitor developments and reassess the usefulness and effectiveness of our programs given the breakdown in governance," the banks said in a joint statement.

Ouattara has already named Gbagbo's former finance minister Charles Koffi Dibby to his cabinet in a move which would strip Gbagbo of an official praised for his handling of debt talks. Dibby was not available to confirm he had switched sides.

FINANCIAL IMPACT

The World Bank has tied the cancellation of $3 billion of external debt, estimated at $12.5 billion, to smooth elections. But Gbagbo's hand on the economy is strengthened by revenues from cocoa, oil and other commodities.

Benchmark ICE cocoa futures traded at a six-week high of $2,966 a tonne on Monday.

Several cocoa exporters suspended activities in the wake of election violence that has caused at least 15 deaths. But a regular industry estimate on Monday put port arrivals at around 427,000 tonnes in the season to Dec. 5, only a few thousand tonnes lower than at the same point last year.

"When you look at the relative economic resilience it has had dating back to the civil war, if this is seen as an attempt to gain some level of traction politically it may not necessarily be the most successful option," said Rolake Akinola, an independent Africa analyst based in London.

Despite the political stand-off, Ivory Coast reopened international borders from Monday that had been sealed during a tense wait for the results, and traffic in the business district of economic capital Abidjan was nearly back to normal.

"The international community has got to play a straight game otherwise it will be a mess in this country. Ouattara's forming his government, Gbagbo's forming his -- where will it end?" said civil servant Maurice Fallet.

ARMY BACKING

The army chief of staff has sworn allegiance to Gbagbo and troops appear to be on his side for now.

Nicolas Sarkozy, president of former colonial power France, called Gbagbo over the weekend to appeal to him to step down.

"I said the following to him: it's up to him how he wants to go down in history. He organised elections, they went smoothly. No challenge is possible," he told reporters on a trip to India.

In Brussels, EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Gbagbo's refusal to accept defeat threatened the stability of both Ivory Coast and the region.

Mediation talks led by former South African president Thabo Mbeki and the two rivals appeared to make no breakthrough on Sunday. It was unclear whether more talks would take place.

Gbagbo has controlled the country for a decade but now faces isolation and international sanctions. Diplomats said Russia, whose Lukoil is exploring for oil there, has blocked efforts in the U.N. Security Council for a clear endorsement of Ouattara.

The crisis in Ivory Coast, once West Africa's brightest economic star, has forced up the risk premium on the country's $2.3 billion Eurobond. It is currently yielding 11.67 percent, from below 10 percent before the election. (Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton in Washington, Tim Cocks in Abidjan, Peroshni Govender in Johannesburg, David Brough in London and Ange Aboa in Bouake; Writing by Richard Valdmanis and Mark John; Editing by Louise Ireland)