This daily press review is compiled by the Information Section of the Public Affairs Office of the American Embassy in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

1. The former Ivoirian coup leader, Ibrahim Coulibaly, is in the limelight today, a few days after news reports said that he was arrested in Benin for illegal detention of weapons. The public identity hearings - a program designed to issue birth certificates to residents without identity documents -- are the other major subject that hits the headlines in all Ivoirian newspapers.

2. A banner headline in Fraternite Matin, a state-owned daily, says, "President Laurent Gbagbo called upon the prefects to return to their posts, as part of the public identity hearings." According to the paper, the call was made yesterday during the Council of Ministers meeting in Abidjan. The president, reports the paper, "Congratulated the Prime Minister, Guillaume Soro for efforts being deployed to assuring the Ivoirians of the credibility of the public identity hearings."

3. Regarding measures that have been taken by the government to pre-empt any fraud during the process and to facilitate the re-establishment of public services throughout the country, Gbagbo mentioned, "The signing of decrees for the redeployment of the prefects, and the Integrated Command Center, which was set-up in conformity with the Ouagadougou Agreement," reports Fraternite Matin.

4. In a related development, Fraternite Matin announces that, "The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) intends to be involved in the organization of the forthcoming elections in Cote d'Ivoire." The issue, reports the paper, was top of the agenda during a meeting yesterday between President Gbagbo and the Chairman of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas. Commenting the situation in Cote d'Ivoire, Dr. Chambas is reported as saying, "The war is really over."

5. The public identity hearings are also a front-page item in Le Front, which denounces what it calls, "The incoherence of the FPI regime." The paper, which is close to the New Forces, namely accuses the Interior Minister, Desire Tagro of playing "a double standard role." Le Front alleges that, "While the minister sent out an official telegram inviting all the prefects and sub-prefects to return to their posts, he secretly advised them to boycott the process."

6. As the public identity hearings are underway, Le Matin d'Abidjan, a daily close to Gbagbo, accuses the Ivoirian opposition figure, Alassane Dramane Ouattara, of crafting "a plan aimed at helping foreign nationals living in Cote d'Ivoire to obtain identity papers."

7. Speaking to Le Jour Plus, a daily close to the opposition, Mrs Kandia Camara, a leading member of the Rally of the Republicans - the party of Ouattara - vowed: "We'll march on the RTI - the state-owned Broadcasting Network." Excerpts of the interview read: "The RTI belongs to all Ivoirians. That is why we are outraged to see that there is a group - supporters of a political party - which has confiscated a tool that is financed by Ivoirians."

8. In a related development, the Managing Director of the RTI, Brou Amessan Pierre, told Fraternite Matin that: "We see ourselves as actors who are working to achieve peace that we enjoy today... We do this through the management of the broadcasting service, through the messages that we send out to the civic groups and to political parties to avoid hatred speeches... We do this by enabling Ivoirians to have more access to information and entertainment."

9. In another development, L'inter quotes the former Ivoirian coup leader, Ibrahim Coulibaly, as saying, "As from October 30, 2007, Mamadou Koulibaly [the Speaker of the National Assembly] will be the new President of Cote d'Ivoire." According to the privately-owned daily, the former Ivoirian army officer was speaking from Benin, where he is living in exile. Reacting to news reports that "he was arrested by the Beninois authorities," Ibrahim Coulibaly said: "I can assure you that I'm actually in my house. I'm moving freely to my businesses," reports L'inter.