20100531
PressTV

Ahead of a French-hosted summit for the renewal of Franco-African ties, the Ivory Coast president says he will skip the meet as a dispute over a failed coup against his government has not been resolved.


"There is no reason for me to go to France so far as we have not discussed (our) fundamental disagreement," the French radio station RFI quoted Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo as saying.

President Gbagbo said that since former French President Jacque Chirac and former Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin were implicated in a coup attempt against his government he would not attend the summit.

The 25th Africa-France conference will be held in the Riviera city of Nice from May 31 to June 1.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will host 38 African leaders, hoping to make progress with regard to French diplomacy in Africa.

Meanwhile, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir -- wanted by an international court for alleged war crimes in Darfur -- and Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe -- currently under an EU travel ban - are two other African leaders that will not attend the summit.