(CORRECTED)-IVORY COAST CONFIRMS PRESENCE AT TALKS A senior Ivory Coast Agriculture Ministry official confirmed his country's backing for a new international cocoa pact and said Ivorian delegates would be present at talks on its buffer stock starting this week. The official told Reuters that Ivorian Agriculture Minister Denis Bra Kanon would attend the opening of the talks, convened by the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), in London on Monday. While Bra Kanon is due to return home this week for funeral ceremonies for a sister of Ivorian President Felix Houphouet-Boigny, scheduled to be held in the country's capital Yamoussoukro between March 19-22, senior Ivorian delegates will be present throughout the London talks, the official said. Bra Kanon is chairman of the ICCO Council and rumours that he or Ivorian delegates might be delayed because of public mourning in the West African nation helped depress already low world cocoa prices Friday. The official said Ivory Coast continued to support the new pact, which was agreed in principle last year by most of the world's cocoa exporters and consumers. He also said Bra Kanon would fulfil his duties as ICCO Council chairman during the talks, scheduled to end on March 27. The meeting aims to set rules for the operation of the pact's buffer stock which producers hope will boost a market hit by successive world cocoa surpluses. Ivory Coast did not participate in the last international cocoa pact and its decision to join the new accord has sparked hopes that it will be more successful in supporting prices.