LOME -- Ivory Coast rebels said they expected to respond on Wednesday to a peace plan prepared by West African mediators but have warned they will reject any agreement that fails to address their main political demands.

Rebel negotiators in Togo worked on revisions to the draft on Tuesday night. However, senior members of their team including their chief negotiator Guillaume Soro, were still in the rebel stronghold of Bouake in northern Ivory Coast.

"We are still working on the draft, we hope to finish working on it this afternoon," rebel spokesman Sidiki Konate told Reuters in the Togolese capital Lome.

The rebel side planned to present their revisions to Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema, who has participated directly in almost three weeks of West African mediated talks. Konate had said on Tuesday: "Any text which does not take our political demands into account will be rejected."

The rebels, who hold the mainly Muslim northern half of Ivory Coast, are demanding President Laurent Gbagbo's resignation and new elections. They say they want to end years of ethnic discrimination against northerners.

The government insists the rebels disarm, saying they just want to seize power with the help of neighboring countries.

Hundreds of people died during four weeks of fighting in the world's top cocoa producer after a failed coup on September 19.

A truce policed by French troops has held since October 17.

-------Crucial Document--------- A source close to the mediators told Reuters on Tuesday the draft document handed to the rebels included agreements reached last month for an exchange of prisoners and to draft legislation leading to an amnesty for exiled soldiers.

It also included a government undertaking to amend a law on new identity cards, a nationality law and some clauses of the Constitution, in return for rebel disarmament. The rebels' call for new elections was addressed in the draft text but ruled out.

A source in the economic community of West African states (ECOWAS) said on Wednesday the bloc was also preparing a document addressing the economic dimensions of the crisis.

The war has choked the flow of goods and people from the north and roadblocks and barricades across the country have slowed the export of cocoa and coffee, crucial to the economy.

Gbagbo said on state radio and television on Tuesday night that while there was still a "glimmer of hope" to avoid further fighting and loss of life he was willing to negotiate.

"All my soldiers say they want to go and fight. That's their role," he said. "My role is to say: Wait, let's talk first."

Rebels accuse security forces of executing government opponents and rebel sympathizers while peace talks are going on.

The army accuses rebels of summary killings, other abuses of civilians and of edging closer to the front line.

A night-time curfew in place since September 22 throughout Ivory Coast -- and another heavy strain on economic activity -- was extended on Tuesday until December 2.