Rebels in the Ivory Coast say they have taken the western cocoa-producing centre of Daloa - even as a new round of peace talks begins.

There have been reports of fighting around Daloa since Saturday, but rebel claims that the city has fallen have not been confirmed.

The apparent advance comes as the rebels in their stronghold of Bouake take part in discussions with mediators including Senegal's Foreign Minister, Cheikh Tidiane Gadio.

The rebels have been holding several northern cities since they began their uprising three weeks ago.

Cocoa region

The BBC's Paul Welsh in Bouake said that the advance in Daloa would take the rebel front-line another 60 kilometres south, directly west of the nominal capital, Yamoussoukro.

It would also take the war into cocoa-producing areas at harvest time.

Ivory Coast is the world's largest producer of cocoa, the raw material for chocolate, and the crop is crucial to the country's economy.

The Senegalese foreign minister had already spoken to the rebels on Saturday, after his president had long discussions with his Ivory Coast counterpart.

Those first talks, as the battle for Daloa began, were described as positive and saw even the most hardline rebels soften their stand against the government, our correspondent says.

In Daloa, a city of about 200,000 people, witnesses told French news agency AFP by phone that rebel soldiers had entered the city, and that some residents had fled.

Reuters news agency quoted a rebel officer, Sergeant Kone, on a mobile phone as saying: "I am here in Daloa now, in the centre. We have taken it. There is still shooting continuing in some areas."

Hundreds have died and thousands have been displaced in the three-week rebellion, believed to have been started by mutinous soldiers upset about being demobilised. Saturday saw the country's defence minister dismissed by the president for failing to quell the rebellion.

The rebels have since demanded a new government, and most of their support is centred in the mainly Muslim north, which has complained of unfair treatment from the southern-based government.

Surrender demand

A first attempt to broker a lasting ceasefire fell apart, and fighting started up again as the Ivory Coast Government refused to negotiate with the rebels until they laid down their arms.

The rebels then vowed to launch a general offensive, targeting the cocoa-producing areas of the south-west.

Since the uprising began, world cocoa prices have risen to near 17-year highs.

As the conflict continues, the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that the situation could degenerate to the level of the Great Lakes region, where millions have died in conflicts in Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi.