Clinton Meets Ivory Coast President

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held talks Tuesday with Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara on the first visit by a senior U.S. official since the end of a deadly political crisis.

Clinton, who travelled to Ivory Coast after attending Monday's inauguration of the re-elected Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, also met with Foreign Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan, Education Minister Kandia Kamara and Health Minister Therese N'Dri Yoman at the Abidjan hotel where she is staying.

The U.S. and Ivorian governments are both keen to build up cooperation on issues such as piracy, drug trafficking and security given the rise of Islamist extremist groups in the Sahel region of West Africa.

The United States was one of the strongest supporters of Ouattara during his lengthy standoff with his predecessor Laurent Gbagbo who refused to quit after his defeat in a November 2010 presidential election.

Ouattara went to university in the United States and also worked for the Washington-based International Monetary Fund.

After her one-day visit to Ivory Coast, Clinton is due to travel on to Togo and Cape Verde.