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 American electoral process was one of the major stories in L'inter, a privately-owned daily. Reports also said that the Ivorian Prime Minister, Guillaume Soro is expected today in Bouake (the stronghold of the New Forces) to meet with his military leadership in a bid to speed up the disarmament process. President Laurent Gbagbo's meeting last week at the UN Security Council and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) underway in Accra, Ghana, were also top stories in today's newspapers.

1. "An African en route to the White House," said the headline of a story carried by L'inter (a privately-owned daily). According to Felix Diby Bony, the paper's political reporter, who is currently in the U.S. as part of the Foreign Press Center Tour for Francophone Journalists (a program sponsored by the State Department), "The Obama phenomenon continues to gain ground in the U.S." Bony said, "This is not the first time an Afro-American has clearly shown his ambitions to become the American President. But this time round, the events on the ground have taken a dramatic turn, as an Obama phenomenon is taking roots on the American soil. He further said that Barrack Obama has virtually changed "the minds of American people."

2. L'inter, however, warned that "Obama's charisma" that enables him to pull crowds at his rallies could turn out to be "an illusion." "Even if the recent opinion polls put his challenger, Hillary Clinton far behind him, the Former First Lady is yet to be defeated," suggested the paper. In Pennsylvania where Clinton has got the support of the Senator, Governor and the Mayor, indicated the paper, "The Former First Lady is capable to overturn the patterns." In its April 19-20 edition, L'inter devoted almost a full-page to the primaries underway in the U.S. with special reports on "the place of Africa in the electoral debates in America."

3. The disarmament of the former combatants of the New Forces was the subject of a front-page story in Notre Voie (a daily close to the ruling FPI). "Disarmament of the ex-rebels: Soro to speed up the process," said a prominent headline on the front page of the paper. According to the paper, the Ivorian Prime Minister who is expected today in Bouake will, from Tuesday, organize a series of "crucial meetings" with the leadership of the New Forces in a bid "to accelerate the disarmament program and to re-establish State's income services in this part of the country."

4. "Reunification: Soro disarms his soldiers," said a banner headline in Nord-Sud Quotidien (a daily close to the opposition). According to the paper, a ceremony marking the disarmament of the former rebels will take place in Bouake tomorrow in the presence of the UN Secretary General Special Representative Y.J. Choi and the representative of President Blaise Compaore, the facilitator in the Ivorian peace process. "One thousand former combatants stationed in Bouake will depose their arms during the ceremony," the paper reported. The paper said, the move came a few days after the government of Cote d'Ivoire set November 30, 2008 as the date of the presidential elections. In a separate development, the paper reported that the banks, which had been closed down in the former rebels-controlled territory as a result of the war, are "resuming their activities progressively."

5. Soir Info (a privately-owned daily): A front-page story in the paper said that "the Ivorian peace process will be top on the agenda during the visit of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is expected in Abidjan on Wednesday." According to the paper the Secretary General may use his visit to Cote d'Ivoire "to encourage Gbagbo and Soro to continue the implementation of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement and to warn both leaders about the danger of organizing any elections that could slide into violence."

6. A few days after the government in Cote d'Ivoire announced that the upcoming elections will be held in November 30 this year, Le Nouveau Reveil (a daily close to the former ruling PDCI-RDA party) quoted a leading opposition figure as saying that "There will be no elections in Cote d'Ivoire on November 30." The paper published a statement issued by Anaky Kobena, leader of the Mouvement des Forces d'Avenir, with a headline reading, "Gbagbo's plan is to use every means possible to hold his grip on the power until 2010."

7. Fraternite Matin (a state-owned daily paper): A prominent story in the paper said that during his meeting with the UN Security Council last week in New York, Gbagbo proposed "a new blueprint" to resolve conflicts in the world. Gbagbo, the paper reported, suggested that "The UN should rely on regional organizations in conflict management."

8. In another development, Fraternite Matin reported that the 12th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) which opened in Accra on Sunday focused on "a new international trade order." Speaking at the conference, the UN Secretary General called for "a new development strategy aimed at ensuring that the benefits of second-generation globalization reached the entire world's developing countries and poorest populations," the paper reported.