(CORRECTED)-IVORY COAST CONFIRMS PRESENCE AT TALKS

  A senior Ivory Coast Agriculture
  Ministry official confirmed his country's backing for a new
  international cocoa pact and said Ivorian delegates would be
  present at talks on its buffer stock starting this week.
      The official told Reuters that Ivorian Agriculture Minister
  Denis Bra Kanon would attend the opening of the talks, convened
  by the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), in London on
  Monday.
      While Bra Kanon is due to return home this week for funeral
  ceremonies for a sister of Ivorian President Felix
  Houphouet-Boigny, scheduled to be held in the country's capital
  Yamoussoukro between March 19-22, senior Ivorian delegates will
  be present throughout the London talks, the official said.
      Bra Kanon is chairman of the ICCO Council and rumours that
  he or Ivorian delegates might be delayed because of public
  mourning in the West African nation helped depress already low
  world cocoa prices Friday.
      The official said Ivory Coast continued to support the new
  pact, which was agreed in principle last year by most of the
  world's cocoa exporters and consumers.
      He also said Bra Kanon would fulfil his duties as ICCO
  Council chairman during the talks, scheduled to end on March
  27.
      The meeting aims to set rules for the operation of the
  pact's buffer stock which producers hope will boost a market
  hit by successive world cocoa surpluses.
      Ivory Coast did not participate in the last international
  cocoa pact and its decision to join the new accord has sparked
  hopes that it will be more successful in supporting prices.
  

