Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo today temporarily replaced rebel ministers in his power-sharing government after they failed to turn up to cabinet meetings, his spokesman said.
"They have been temporarily replaced," a presidential spokesman said.
Government officials said the rebel ministers could retake their positions in the cabinet, set up as part of a 2003 peace deal brokered by France, whenever they turned up to a meeting.
Existing cabinet colleagues would do their work in the interim.
The world's top cocoa grower has been split in two since rebels seized the northern half of the country after a failed attempt to oust Gbagbo in September 2002.
Ivory Coast plunged into crisis three weeks ago when government forces bombed the rebel zone, shattering an 18-month ceasefire and raising fears of a full-blown civil war.
The cabinet warned last week after meeting for the first time since the offensive that rebel ministers who failed to turn up to work would be temporarily replaced so as to keep the government running.