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

Reports in today's Ivorian press said that four journalists of the newspaper Le Patriote have been summoned by the police. The conclusion of the voter registration exercise on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 was again a major subject in the Ivorian press. Government's efforts to create a new Ivorian army and move to bring Ivorian refugees back home were the other major stories in the press. The newspapers also reported on U.S. Embassy's HIV/AIDS Caravan organized in Daloa on June 24 and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson's interview on President Obama's July 10-11 visit to Ghana.

1. A front-page story in Le Nouveau Reveil (a daily close to the former ruling PDCI-RDA party) said that four journalists working with Le Patriote have been summoned to report to the police today. [NOTE: Le Patriote is a daily close RDR, the party of Ivorian opposition leader Alassane Dramane Ouattara; and observed to be critical of Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo.] The paper named the journalists who are summoned as Charles Sanga publisher; Emmanuel Kore chief editor; Bakary Nimanga copy editor and Inza Kigbafory reporter. The report said that the motive behind the summons is yet to be known. The paper went on to warn that "At this fragile pre-electoral period in Cote d'Ivoire, any threat on press freedom could jeopardize the peace process." It added: "The summons of four journalists from a same media outlet is a cause of concerns." In a front-page story, Le Patriote confirmed that the four journalists have been summoned by the police. The report had it that attempt by the publisher of this paper to obtain the reason behind the injunction remained futile.

2. In the wake of the conclusion of the voter registration exercise, Fraternite Matin (a state-owned daily) carried reactions from Cote d'Ivoire's different political divides on the issue. Mamadou Koulibaly, the Speaker of the National Assembly and a leading member of the ruling FPI party, suggested that the ideal would be that the registration should not stop until everyone is enrolled. The paper quoted Mr. Koulibaly, who recalled a statement made earlier, by President Laurent Gbagbo, saying: "As long as an Ivorian eligible to vote is not registered, there won't be election." He reportedly said: "The exclusion was used as a pretext of the long crisis that we're facing. Therefore, there is no reason to exclude Ivorians today."

3. Other reactions in Fraternite Matin came from the former ruling PDCI-RDA party. "The voter registration exercise should end one day... because at a point during the process, there is a need to finish drawing up the voters' roll; and go to polls to end the crisis," the paper quoted Alphonse Djedje Mady spokesperson of the party as saying. On the position of the opposition RDR party on the matter, the paper quoted a cadre of the party saying: "RDR's political position is that the first round of the presidential election should necessarily come on November 29, 2009 in compliance with the Independent Electoral Commission's decision that was endorsed by the government. The RDR will fight anything that will go against this decision. If the extension of the voter registration exercise, even for one day, would delay the polls, I tell you that the RDR won't accept it." Meanwhile, the New Forces is calling upon the Ivorian political stakeholders to find a "consensus" on this matter, reported the paper.

4. Reporting on the outcomes of the voter registration exercise, Nord-Sud Quotidien (a daily close to the opposition) published the number of Ivorians that were counted in each region according to statistics published on June 15. According to the report, the Ivorian economic capital Abidjan recorded the highest number with 97.37 per cent of its population registered. The lowest turn-outs during the registration process were noted in the western regions where less than 50 per cent of the population was registered in some areas.

5. Efforts by Ivorian government to create a new Ivorian army and the deployment an 8,000 joint contingent of government forces and New Forces were a subject of front-page story in L'inter (an independent daily). The paper quoted New Forces' military commander General Soumaila Bakayoko saying that logistic problems are holding back the deployment of the joint contingents tasked with ensuring security throughout the country during the electoral process. According to the paper, General Bakayoko was speaking Wednesday after a meeting of the committee supervising the redeployment and accommodation of the troops.

6. Reporting on the same meeting; Fraternite Matin quoted the Minister of Defense, Michel Amani N'Guessan, who reassured Ivorians that "Necessary measures have been taken to enable the deployment an 8,000 joint contingent and to provide accommodation for 5,000 volunteers of the New Forces to join the new army."

7. More on the peace process, a report in Fraternite Matin said the government of Cote d'Ivoire and UNHCR are working together to enable 12,000 Ivorian refugees to return home. The report said that the repatriation program designed by UNHCR takes into account the improvement of security and reinforcement of social cohesion among the Ivorian population as well as poltical and military leaders. The program for the repatriation of the refugees, the paper said, will be completed by January 2010.

8. L'Expression (a daily close to the opposition) reported on U.S. Embassy's HIV/AIDS Caravan organized in Daloa on June 24. The program included films projection; HIV/AIDS testing and a live radio program on the importance of testing.

9. Notre Voie (a daily close to the ruling FPI party) and L'inter published the full story June 17 interview of Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson with www.America.gov on President Obama's July 10-11 visit to Accra, Ghana. Still on President Obama's visit to Accra, L'Expression published a commentary suggesting that the visit of President Obama to Ghana is "recognition of democracy and good governance."