Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara met four West African leaders in Benin on Monday, the same day his rival Laurent Gbagbo made his first appearance before the International Criminal Court.

The presidents of Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Niger gathered as the Conseil de l'Entente, or Council of Understanding, as Gbagbo made his first appearance in The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity, but the leaders made no public comment on his case.

Ouattara has engaged in a series of regional diplomatic trips since officially taking office in May.

Gbagbo refused to accept Ouattara's victory in a presidential run-off vote last November, prompting months of violence that left some 3,000 dead.

The summit of the French-speaking nations was aimed at re-launching the activities of the council, created in 1959 but recently inactive, particularly with regard to regional stability.

"The rebirth of this tool is important in the political stabilisation of the sub-region," Ouattara told journalists at the one-day summit of the council, considered one of the region's oldest institutions.

The five nations pledged to work together to combat a surge in pirate attacks off the West African coast, with Benin especially hard hit.