Cote d'Ivoire's President Laurent Gbagbo and Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny respectively expressed welcome to rebel leader Guillaume Soro's return to join the new interim government at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, said a government spokesman.

The president and prime minister also hoped all political forces in the country could work together to end country's three-year-long political and military crisis, said the spokesman.

Gbagbo said that Banny's appointment as the country's new prime minister and two major rebel leaders' return from exile as well as Soro's comeback marked significant boosts for the restoration of the peace process in the country, saying the settlement of the country's crisis needs the joint efforts of all the people and political forces in the country.

After his meeting with Soro, the president gave important instructions to government troop leaders, asking them to resume talks with opposition military leaders and solve all military issues related to the peace process.

He also expressed appreciation for Soro's active attitude towards the settlement of Cote d'Ivoire's crisis and pledged his part along with Soro to seek early presidential and parliamentary elections in an "open, just and transparent" way in the country.

Soro, who quit the cabinet in October 2004, arrived in Abidjan on Tuesday to join the new interim government for the first time. His decision is regarded as a very positive sign for the restoration of the peace process amid more stable political situation in the West African country.

Soro, who was named minister of reconstruction in Banny's cabinet formed last December, came back after the country's rival parties held a meeting last month under UN auspices.

Cote d'Ivoire has been split since September 2002 when rebels launched a failed coup and seized the northern half. About 6,000 UN peacekeepers and 4,000 French troops are in the country to separate the rebel-controlled north and the government-controlled south.

In 2003, France brokered a ceasefire deal between the two sides. A government of national unity was formed with rebel heads and opposition party leaders taking ministerial posts. But the rebels have not been disarmed and mutual distrust has crippled the government.

According to UN Security Council Resolution 1633, the United Nations and the African Union endorsed a one-year extension of Gbagbo's five-year mandate until October 2006, when the delayed presidential elections are expected to take place.

(Xinhua News Agency March 16, 2006)