U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has
left Ivory Coast, where she met with President Alassane Ouattara and
several members of his cabinet, media reported Tuesday.
Clinton, who is the first Secretary of State to visit Ivory Coast
since 1986, held talks that addressed the outlook of the country,
which is recovering from a four-month conflict that broke out last
November, killing 3000 and displacing many more.
She also addressed U.S. interests in the francophone country. Ivory
Coast is the region's biggest producer of cocoa, some of which is
bought by the U.S. for processing.
U.N. Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Catherine
Bragg was also in Ivory Coast Tuesday, to assess the humanitarian
situation one year after the conflict.
"I applaud the return of over a half a million people in the last
nine months, testimony to the increasing security and the resolution
of the crisis and the international support, and a tribute to the
hard work of the international community," Bragg said in a statement.
Clinton was due to continue her trip to Togo, to meet with
President Faure Gnassingbe in what will be the country's first ever
visit from a U.S. Secretary of State.
Togo won a seat on the U.N. Security Council for 2012 and 2013.
From there, Clinton was also due to visit the island state of Cape
Verde.
