20110130
xinhua

ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The foreign minister appointed by Cote d'Ivoire's incumbent Laurent Gbagbo, Alcide Dje Dje, on Saturday hailed the decision of the African Union (AU) to set up a panel to evaluate the situation in his country following a post- election crisis.

"It is a wise decision," Dje Dje told Xinhua as he was informally present at the 16th AU summit scheduled for Jan. 30-31 at the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

"When this is a dispute, it means (there should be) a court. It could be the court of ECOWAS (the Economic Community of West African States) or another court called on to look into who is the real winner. When there are consequences, violence, instability, impossibility to govern for example, the heads of State should be called on to treat the affair," said Dje Dje.

"They (ECOWAS) pronounced without sending a mission to see what really happened. So, now we have the African Union to catch up. It is a good news," he said.

The AU peace and security commission announced Friday that it will set up a panel to evaluate the situation in Cote d'Ivoire and produce a plan of solution within a month. The members of the commission should be decided within 48 hours.

"If you remember well, the African Union did not really declared (that Ouattara won the election). The Union only endorsed the decisions of ECOWAS. It is different," he said.