JOHANNESBURG, Oct 30 (AFP) - South African President Thabo Mbeki and his Nigerian counterpart Olusegun Obasanjo have issued a joint call for fresh presidential elections in Ivory Coast, the South African foreign ministry said Monday. In a statement drafted after they spoke on the phone at the weekend, the two presidents said "the interests of the Ivorian people can best be served through the holding of fresh presidential elections, at a date agreed upon by all the parties." Mbeki and Obasanjo also called for a government of national unity to be established to rule the country until new elections were held, and for the people of Ivory Coast to refrain from further violence. Following the controversial vote on October 22, an estimated 155 people died in clashes between rival party supporters, according to a main opposition party whose candidate was excluded from the polls. All but five of 19 presidential candidates were barred from running. Another 50 people are believed to have died in earlier protests that routed military ruler Robert Guei from power after he tried to claim victory in the election. Electoral authorities eventually declared socialist Laurent Gbagbo the victor. Mbeki and Obasanjo said Guei had "de-legitimised" the elections by banning 14 candidates from taking part, with the result that roughly a third of the electorate went to the polls. They said they want to reconfirm "the need for political inclusiveness in processes aimed at restoring democracy in the Cote d'Ivoire." The interim government should, among other matters, see to it that new presidential and parliamentary elections were open to all political parties, they said. bur/ef/jlr _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------