LOME, Nov 15 (AFP) - Ivory Coast rebels on Friday again rejected a west African peace plan, and said they also opposed the deployment of regional peacekeeping force until their political demands are met. The rebels, who have seized the northern half of the west African state in a bloody army mutiny, said the peace proposals were unacceptable because it would assure President Laurent Gbagbo of control over the whole of the country. "A durable peace is one that takes into account the strong need for change expressed by Ivorians, the region and the international community," the Ivory Coast Patriotic Movement, the rebels' political wing, said in a statement issued in the Togolese capital Lome. "It is for this reason that we deplore the proposals the mediation has put on the table thus far. It serves only to assure the control of the government of Mr. Gbagbo over the whole of Ivory Coast." The rebels have been demanding Gbagbo's resignation, a reworked constitution and new elections ever since the talks opened here on October 30. For his part the embattled president has said there can be no serious negotiations with the rebels until they disarm, something they refuse to contemplate. The deadlock has endured for nearly two weeks, leaving the country effectively carved in two and threatening to cripple the economy of the once-prosperous country, the world's largest cocoa producer. Togo's President Gnassingbe Eyadema, the chief mediator in the Ivorian crisis, on Friday asked the rebels to reconsider and the MPCI said it was working on "refining" its reaction to the peace proposals. For its part former colonial power France announced it was dispatching its former ambassador to Ivory Coast, Christian Dutheil de-le-Rochere, to the negotiations in Lome. French foreign ministry spokesman Franois Rivasseau told a press conference in Paris the move showed "France's support for west African mediation and our strong wish that they succeed." French troops have for four weeks been monitoring a ceasefire the rebels and the government signed on October 17, but its soldiers were meant to be replaced by a 1,264-strong regional force by the end of the month. Senegal on Friday agreed to lead the force from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) after dithering for weeks, and a preparatory team of 20 officers were due to arrive in Ivory Coast at the weekend. But the rebels said Friday from their stronghold city of Bouake that they were opposed to the African troops arriving before a political accord had been reached. "We are against deploying an African intervention force before we have signed a political accord with the government of President Laurent Gbagbo," rebel spokesman Antoine Beugre told AFP after rebel leaders met in Bouake. "We need to first sign an accord in Lome that takes into account our demands, especially our political demands," he added. In the meanwhile Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade declared that the Lome talks had "failed" and offered to replace Eyadema as mediator. The rebellion began on September 19 when disgruntled soldiers took up arms against Gbagbo, swiftly seizing control of the Muslim majority north of the country in bitter fighting that claimed 400 lives. Since then their demands have grown from calls for better conditions in the military to a quest for political change, and they appear to have gathered political support on the way. The deepening crisis is considered Ivory Coast's worst since independence in 1960 and has seen long-simmering tension between different ethnic and religious groups flare. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~