Charles Konan Banny, governor of the Central Bank of West African States, has been appointed prime minister of Cote d'Ivoire, officials announced Sunday.

The banker will be the prime minister for the country's transition period, which is planned to end in October 2006, said Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, also chairman of the African Union, at a news conference in Abidjan.

Obasanjo and South African President Thabo Mbeki, as the chief mediators, arrived in Abidjan Sunday to seal the agreement under a UN plan to revive a deadlocked peace process in the West African country.

They had met representatives of political parties and President Laurent Gbagbo of Cote d'Ivoire before the naming of the new prime minister.

Obasanjo and Mbeki were in the country last month on a similar mission but failed to reach an agreement on the candidate for the prime minister.

Cote d'Ivoire has been split since rebels seized its north after failing in a bid to oust Gbagbo three years ago. A series of UN-backed peace agreements have so far failed to reunite the country.

A UN resolution adopted in October allowed Gbagbo to remain in power after his mandate ended on October 30, and it called for a new prime minister agreed by all sides to work towards elections by next October.

(Xinhua News Agency December 5, 2005)