Ivorian President Gbagbo meets ex-army ruler Guei

YAMOUSSOUKRO, Ivory Coast (Reuters) -- Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo on Monday met General Robert Guei, the ousted junta leader who has been in hiding since he was forced from power after trying to rig October's presidential election.

A spokesman for Gbagbo told reporters at the airport in Yamoussoukro, the country's capital, that the two men were in talks nearby.

Further details would be given later, he said. Journalists had been summoned by the presidency in Abidjan earlier on Monday and flown to Yamoussoukro.

Guei, who came to power in a military coup in December 1999, claimed victory in the election on October 22 but was forced to flee after Gbagbo's supporters took to the streets in protest. Scores were killed in the uprising and ethnic confrontation that followed.

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