Economist named as Ivory Coast PM

ABIDJAN - African mediators named Charles Konan Banny, the governor of the Central Bank of West African States, as Ivory Coast's interim prime minister, a step meant to break a deadlock in the country's peace process.

"The prime minister for the transition period, which is planned to end in October 2006, is Mr Charles Konan Banny," Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo told a news conference in Abidjan, with Ivorian leader Laurent Gbagbo sitting by his side.

- REUTERS