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WASHINGTON. — US President Barack Obama yesterday lifted decade-old sanctions against Ivory Coast, the world’s biggest cocoa producer, citing a successful presidential election last year and its progress in tackling illegal trafficking of arms and natural resources.

The sanctions were imposed in February 2006 under President George W Bush against Ivory Coast political figures for blocking a 2003 peace process. The country had been split in two since a 2002 civil war launched by rebels against then President Laurent Gbagbo.

Yesterday’s move follows the lifting of a 12-year-old arms embargo, asset freezes and travel bans against six individuals by the UN Security Council in April, including against Gbagbo, who is on trial before the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. — Reuters.