to peace negotiations. Ougadougou talks: 2006–2007 Shortly after the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1721, Gbagbo announced that he was preparing his own "new framework" to resolve the crisis, reflecting that, "Confronted by the failure of external solutions, it is time for Ivorians to assume total ownership of the peace process". The new framework revolved around "direct dialogue" between the New Forces and Gbagbo's FPI, to be undertaken bilaterally without international mediation. Bilateral pre-negotiations had in fact been underway in secret since mid-2006. Although touted as a "home-grown" solution, the talks were facilitated by Burkinabé President Blaise Compaoré, with ECOWAS's endorsement, and Mbeki had also been involved in the pre-negotiations. None of the opposition parties were invited to participate, and Gbagbo and Soro held direct talks alone for the first time. Ougadougou Peace Agreement On 4 March 2007, the parties – the FPI government and the New Forces – signed the Ouagadougou Peace Agreement in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, their eighth peace agreement since 2002. The agreement, which represented a comprehensive political settlement to the conflict, entailed a new power-sharing arrangement, abandoning the notion of a consensus prime minister: instead, Soro was to become prime minister (thus marginalising opposition leaders Ouattara and Bédié) – but Gbagbo's constitutional prerogatives as president were also to be re-established. The agreement also implied a reduce role for international supervision: several international monitoring mechanisms agreed to after the Pretoria talks (including the establishment of a UN High Representative for the Election in Côte d'Ivoire) were eliminated, although the UN Secretary General's Special Representative retained the right to certify the electoral process. The agreement included mechanisms to expedite voter registration and identification so that a presidential election could be held in ten months. It also included provisions for the disarmament of combatants and, through a joint command centre, for the restructuring of the military and security forces. Implementation Soro took office in early April, and formed a cabinet that retained many of the ministers who had served under his predecessor. On 16 April, Gbagbo declared that the war was over, as he, with Soro, presided over the first steps to dismantle the UNOCI buffer zone, an occasion celebrated by a joint parade of government and New Forces troops. On 18 June, the central government began its administrative redeployment in northern areas formerly held by rebels, with the first new prefect installed in Bouaké. Despite a fatal rocket