South African President Thabo Mbeki met Ivory Coast rebels on Saturday in the latest bid to nudge them to keep a fragile peace process on track in the West African country ahead of an October general election. "This meeting is part of the ongoing consultations that the mediator has had, and will continue having with all the stakeholders and concerned parties to the Cote D'Ivoire situation," the presidency said in a statement. Mbeki is mediating on behalf of the 53-member African Union to end a stand-off between Ivory Coast's government and rebels. Neither Mbeki nor Rebel New Forces leader Guillaume Soro spoke to reporters after several hours of closed-door talks ended. South Africa warned this week it may refer parties it views as blocking the peace deal to the U.N. Security Council this month so sanctions could be imposed on them. In New York on Friday the Council renewed a plea to both sides to fulfil their obligations under a peace agreement to ensure the October election passes without incident. --More 1938 Local Time 1638 GMT
