The two sides in Ivory Coast's civil war have agreed to end all hostilities in their three-year war following landmark talks in the South African capital Pretoria.
"The Ivorians parties that are signatories to the Pretoria agreement hereby solemnly declare the immediate and final cessation of all hostilities and the end of the war throughout the national territory," they said in a joint statement issued in Pretoria today.
A group known as the New Forces seized the north of Ivory Coast after a failed attempt to oust President Laurent Gbagbo in September 2002. Thousands died in fighting and more than a million people were uprooted from their homes.
A first peace deal was signed in January 2003 but has yet to be fully implemented. A fragile 18-month truce was shattered last November when Gbagbo's forces attacked the rebel north.
Since then fears of a return to war have been growing. Both sides have agreed several times to end the war but previous pledges have been hobbled by mutual distrust as neither side has been willing to compromise on key demands.
Around 6,000 UN and 4,000 French peacekeepers are keeping the two sides apart by policing a buffer zone which roughly cuts the world's top cocoa producer in half.
There are currently two Irish Defence Forces observers stationed in Ivory Coast. A Defence Forces spokesman said they would remain in the country to monitor the ceasefire. There are around 450 Irish troops in nearby Liberia, three in the Congo and a single Irish soldier is based in Sudan.
Mr Gbagbo, rebel leader Guillaume Soro and Ivory Coast's main opposition politicians - Alassane Ouattara and Henri Konan Bedie - took part in the Pretoria talks, dubbed a last chance to salvage peace in the former French colony.
"(They reiterated) their determination regarding the need to organise presidential elections in October 2005 and legislative elections that follow immediately thereafter," said the joint statement, agreed after more than three days of talks.
There was no ruling in the statement on whether Mr Ouattara could run in the presidential poll. So far the New Forces rebels have refused to lay down their guns until the constitution has been changed to let him stand.
South African President Thabo Mbeki, who is mediating in the crisis, will rule on the issue of eligibility for election after consulting Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The New Forces said they had agreed to return to a government of national reconciliation based in southern city of Abidjan after agreeing a security plan for their ministers. They withdrew from the government last year.
Their armed forces will meet the Ivorian army on April 14th in the New Forces stronghold of Bouake to discuss a disarmament plan and the formation of a united national army. The leaders also agreed that 600 fighters would be recruited into a national police force, operating in rebel areas under the auspices of the United Nations and that militias throughout the country would be disarmed.