Representatives of Ivory Coast's opposition met South African President Mr Thabo Mbeki today to try to end new violence in the world's top cocoa producer.
African leaders fear that another bout of war in the West African country could destabilise the whole region.
Mr Mbeki's spokesman said exiled Ivorian opposition leader Mr Alassane Ouattara had arrived in South Africa for the talks, as had Mr Alphonse Djedje Mady, secretary general of the former ruling Democratic Party (PDCI) and head of an alliance of opposition parties.
But he said there were currently no representatives of armed rebel groups at the talks - retracting an earlier statement that rebel leader Guillaume Soro had also arrived in Pretoria.
Mr Mbeki, who met Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo on an African Union-mandated trip to the former French colony earlier this week, said he was confident of finding a way forward. "I am quite sure we will make progress. That I'm sure about," he said before beginning the talks.
Officials say dozens of people have been killed and hundreds injured in rioting, which has hit cocoa exports and prompted France to start evacuating its citizens.
The violence erupted when France destroyed most of the country's small air force at the weekend after an Ivorian warplane killed nine French peacekeepers during an offensive on rebel territory.
Ivory Coast has been has been split between a government-run south and rebel-held north since a failed coup in 2002.