A communique released after the meeting Monday called on Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo and Seydou Diarra, the prime minister in a new unity government, to continue to follow-up the "process of normalisation in Ivory Coast."

The war in Ivory Coast began on September 19, splitting the world's top cocoa producer into rebel- and government-held territories.

But hostilities stopped after the rebels and government forces signed a truce early this month, hard on the heels of the new reconciliation government being formed after protracted peace talks.

The three insurgent groups have joined the new administration.

The meeting in Lome brought together members of a regional body of heads of state called the Council of Entente, or good relations. The participants included Benin's President Mathieu Kerekou, Gbagbo of Ivory Coast, Niger's Mamadou Tandja and Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo.

The sole absentee was President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, whose country has been accused by Ivory Coast of having masterminded the rebellion-turned-civil war -- a charge repeatedly denied by Ouagadougou.

The heads of state also affirmed their will "to mobilise all their energy to stop acts of cross-border destabilisation and criminality," including drugs smuggling and trafficking in arms and ammunition.

They also stressed the need to streamline the integration of their economies "for the well-being of the people."

WAR.WIRE