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

The US electoral process is the subject of many commentaries in Ivorian dailies today. Papers also reported on the visit of Aubrey Hooks, former US Ambassador to Abidjan, where he met with Ivorian Prime Minister, Guillaume Soro. Other reporting was on fund raising efforts by authorities in Cote d'Ivoire and the international community for the peace process; the identification process; the lifestyle of the current regime in Cote d'Ivoire; relations between the ruling FPI party and the New Forces; and efforts by Ivorian authorities to stem the scourge of child exploitation in cocoa farms.

1. Fraternite Matin (a state-owned daily): The paper carried an almost full-page report from its US-based correspondent entitled: "American primaries: 'Obamania' is gaining ground." At this stage of the preliminaries to elect the candidate of the Democrats to the upcoming presidential elections in US, reported the paper, "Barack Obama has already won primaries in 24 states as against 13 to his rival, the former First Lady, Hillary Clinton." "Senator Obama, this son of a Kenyan immigrant, is pulling crowd," wrote the paper. It went on saying, "his aura, charm and rhetoric fascinate America," to the extent that, "some compare him to Martin Luther King Jr., while others say he [Obama] embodies John F. Kennedy, or Abraham Lincoln." In any case, the paper further commented, this young lawyer, a Havard law graduate is "popular." Nevertheless, the paper suggested that, "Obama is not really the favorite of the black community in the United States," because they believe that "he [Obama] is not 'black enough', hence, not familiar enough with their racist and racial challenges." The paper also noted that one should forget "the friendship between the Clintons and African Americans that dated back from the year 90s."

2. In a separate story culled from French newspaper, Liberation, Fraternite Matin carried a photo of US presidential candidate Barack Obama wearing Somali clothing. The paper then noted that the two Democrats candidates are now using "blows, confrontation and fierce debate," to bring down each other.

3. Regarding the meeting between Hooks and Soro yesterday in Abidjan, the report in Le Nouveau Reveil (a daily close to the former ruling PDCI-RDA party) said: "Nothing transpired from the meeting that lasted about 30 minutes." According to the paper, the press, which was invited to cover the meeting, "came home with an empty bag." The paper quoted sources at the Cabinet of the Prime Minister as saying that "the meeting between Hooks and Soro was "strictly private." The paper then wondered about "the news that Hooks delivered to Soro, when elections are planned to take place [in Cote d'Ivoire] in a few months." According to the report in Le Jour Plus (a pro-opposition daily), the former US Ambassador was accompanied by "businessmen." The paper believed that "this visit [of Hooks to Abidjan] will help buttress bilateral relations between US and Cote d'Ivoire." The paper further commented that "the US pledged to support the Ivoirian peace process that would be completed after democratic elections." Notre Voie (a daily close to the ruling FPI party) questioned the "rationale" behind the visit of Aubrey Hooks to Cote d'Ivoire.

4. In a bid to support the peace process in Cote d'Ivoire, the African Development Bank (ADB) is expected to sign an agreement estimated at 34.1 million dollars with the Ivorian authorities, said a front-page item in Fraternite Matin. According to the paper, the announcement was made yesterday in Abidjan by an official of the bank. The grant, explained the paper, will be used to finance projects including the rehabilitation of schools in the zones formerly under the control of the New Forces, agricultural productions, support to women and children who were victims of the war.

5. In another prominent story, Fraternite Matin quoted President Laurent Gbagbo as saying: "We'll pay off our debts this week." Gbagbo, reported the paper, was speaking on the relation between Cote d'Ivoire and the World Bank on the margins of a joint meeting between UEMOA - The West African Economic and Monetary Union - and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which took place last Monday in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. "Cote d'Ivoire is working in order to recover its situation of before September 18, 2002," the Ivorian leader reportedly said.

6. L'inter (a privately-owned daily): A front-page item in this daily suggested that the Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Dominique Strauss-Kan, had been very critical about "bad governance, military expenditures, lifestyle of government officials, and the problems facing the cocoa and coffee sector in Cote d'Ivoire." This happened, when he met with Gbagbo in Ouagadougou, where he asked Gbagbo to reduce "unproductive expenditures," reported the paper.

7. Le Nouveau Reveil: With a picture of a Mercedes saloon car on its front-page, the paper allegedly reported that "the owner of the nearly 1.1 million dollars vehicle is a friend to Gbagbo." It then went on denouncing what it called "the self-aggrandizement of reformers [a name of members of the ruling FPI party]."

8. Notre Voie: The paper questioned "the credibility" of SAGEM, a French group that has been tasked by the Ivorian authorities to conduct the identification of the population in the perspective of the upcoming presidential elections. According to the paper, the representative of the French group in Cote d'Ivoire was involved in many "financial scandals."

9. Le Matin d'Abidjan (a daily close to the ruling FPI party): The paper prominently reported that "the peace process underway in Cote d'Ivoire is likely to derail due to disagreements opposing the New Forces to the ruling FPI party over the implementation of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement." One of the sticking points suggested the paper, concerns "the controversy over whether the ex-combatants should be disarmed before the upcoming elections or whether the elections should take place before the disarmament process is completed."

10. Finally, according to Fraternite Matin, yesterday government officials and experts adopted a plan of action aimed at fighting the scourge of child exploitation in cocoa farms in Cote d'Ivoire. The five-point plan seeks, among other things, to reinforce the judicial system, prevention mechanisms, and reintegration of children who were victims of the child labor. The plan, reported the paper, will run from 2007 to 2009 and will cost about 7.9 million dollars.