South African President Thabo Mbeki has suggested that Cote d'Ivoire's constitutional council accept the eligibility of all the candidates presented by all the signatories of an original French-brokered peace deal in 2003, said the spokesman of Cote d'Ivoire's president Wednesday.

Mbeki, who was mandated by the African Union to mediate, sent a letter to the various parities in the country, saying he made the suggestion after a careful study of the situation in the West African nation and related clauses of its constitution.

Mbeki also urged President Laurent Gbagbo to use his powers to make sure that this year's presidential polls are open to all, which will clear the way for main opposition leader and exiled former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara to run against him in the October elections.

Ouattara was barred twice -- in 1995 and 2000 -- by Cote d'Ivoire's courts from standing in polls because of doubts about his nationality. His status has been the root of years of violence and instability in the country as rebels refuse to disarm until this issue is resolved.

Article 35 of the constitution stipulates that all presidential candidates must be native Cote d'Ivoire citizens born in the country and with both parents being natives.

An amendment to the clause, passed by the parliament last December, has loosened the strict nationality rules and requires that at least one parent of the presidential candidates should be native citizen. But the amendment could not take effect without being officially promulgated by the president.

Gbagbo had insisted that the amendment would necessitate a referendum which could only take place once rebels had disarmed.

The insurgents have rejected this and demanded that Gbagbo directly sign a presidential decree to promulgate it. The ensuing stalemate has left the country stuck in a no-man's land between war and peace.

Cote d'Ivoire has been divided between a rebel-held north and loyalist south since September 2002 when a failed coup to oust Gbagbo erupted into civil war. A 2003 peace agreement signed in France and another in Ghana last year failed to take hold.

On April 6, all parties agreed to end hostilities and immediately start disarming, at a meeting mediated by Mbeki in Pretoria, South Africa.

The parties in Pretoria handed over the question regarding Ouattara's eligibility of candidacy to Mbeki after admitting that they could not reach a solution.

Rebels and Cote d'Ivoire army chiefs are due to meet on Thursday to discuss disarmament, as agreed in Pretoria.

(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2005)