Rebel sworn in as prime minister

A rebel leader who has controlled northern Ivory Coast for four years took office as the country’s prime minister.

“The first part of this challenge is the consolidation of trust among all Ivorians and the return of a durable peace,” Guillaume Soro told an audience of dignitaries and journalists in Abidjan.

Nearly five years ago, Soro led a failed coup attempt against President Laurent Gbagbo.

The civil war that resulted was settled in 2003 with an uneasy agreement to divide Ivory Coast into a northern region held by rebels and a southern region controlled by the government.

United Nations and French peacekeepers patrol a buffer zone.