Internationally recognized President of Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara has officially invited the President of Ghana, John Evans Atta Mills to his investiture. The ceremony has been scheduled for the 21st of May this year. A delegation from Mr Ouattara led by the Prime Minister Guillaume Soro held a closed-door meeting with President Mills at the Castle in Accra on Monday where the message was divulged. The delegation also briefed President Mills about the security situation in the Ivory Coast after the capture of the beleaguered former leader Laurent Gbagbo in April. Mr Soro, who spoke through an interpreter, extended Mr Ouattara’s “sincere appreciation and greetings” to President Atta Mills. The Government of Ghana, while agreeing with a decision of ECOWAS to use military force to oust then intransigent Laurent Gbagbo, who had refused to relinquish power after his apparent defeat in the November presidential polls, was not convinced the use of force would resolve the stalemate. President Atta Mills, personally, advocated dialogue as the best means to end the crisis and said that Ghana would not commit soldiers should the regional body resort to the military action. Mr Soro, in the meeting with President Mills acknowledged: “Since the troubles in Ivory Coast we have always appreciated the position of your Excellency.” On his part, President Mills said the two neighbouring countries are “brothers and sisters, we are the same, so whatever happens in Cote d'Ivoire affects us in Ghana. We will never want to see anything go wrong in Cote d’Ivoire because its implication for us is enormous.” He therefore assured President Ouattara that Ghana would continue to offer him the necessary help to restore the country to normalcy. Later in an interview with journalists, Prime Minister Guillaume Soro denied allegations that Ghana sent mercenaries to support Laurent Gbagbo during the crisis. “[Mr Soro] denied categorically this information [that Ghanaians were arrested when Gbagbo was captured]. “[When] we arrested the former President Laurent Gbagbo… there were no Ghanaians at all in person arrested.” Story by Isaac Essel/Myjoyonline.com