20100724
reuters

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Ivory Coast Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, whose rebel group occupies the country's north, has resigned as party chief to focus on organising long-delayed presidential elections, his spokesman said on Friday.

The unexpected move in the civil war-scarred West African nation rekindled speculation the 38-year-old may be polishing his political image for a presidential bid when he reaches the minimum age required by the constitution of 40.

"Soro is a very strategic man, and he must see some political advantage to this," said Richard Moncrieff, analyst for International Crisis Group.

Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa grower divided by a 2002-03 civil war, is struggling to organise polls that have been delayed since 2005 due to disputes over voter eligibility and rebel disarmament.

Soro was named leader of the rebel movement that attempted to overthrow President Laurent Gbagbo in September 2002 and which now controls the north as the New Forces.

He was later named prime minister by Gbagbo after a 2007 peace deal, but their coalition government has made little progress toward cementing an election date.

"The Secretary General of the New Forces, Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, announced July 22 that there will be an interim leader of the New Forces," spokesman Alain Lobognon said in a statement sent to Reuters.

He said Justice Minister Kone Mamadou would be Soro's replacement at the top of the New Forces until elections are held. Soro has never commented on the widely held assumption that he plans to run for the presidency.