Ivory Coast near to civil war after attack on peacekeepers
West Africa's leading peace broker made an emergency trip to Ivory Coast last night to try to prevent a resumption of the civil war after days of violence intensified with an attack on UN peacekeepers.
The president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, who is a key regional mediator, flew to Abidjan to talk to his Ivorian counterpart, Laurent Gbagbo, whom rebels accuse of orchestrating this week's unrest to undermine a new transitional government.
Yesterday UN peacekeepers were forced to pull out of a base at Guiglo, in the south-east of the country, after an armed group attacked the compound. Four people were killed, none of them from the UN's 200-plus staff.
Elsewhere, supporters of Mr Gbagbo blocked streets with burning tyres and stopped vehicles on the road to the international airport.
Mr Obasanjo took a lead role in negotiations to reunite Ivory Coast when it was divided between a government-held south and rebel-controlled north after a civil war in 2002.
The urgency of the situation was underscored by the fact that he left his own country amid a growing hostage crisis, with militants holding four foreign oil workers.
The latest unrest erupted in Ivory Coast on Monday after a UN-backed international mediation group recommended that parliament's expired mandate not be renewed. Mr Gbagbo is leading a one-year government of national unity that has diminished his executive powers.
The parliament, filled with his supporters, is viewed as Mr Gbagbo's last bastion of power, and the decision angered youth activists and the president's backers, who sent their followers on to the streets. Mr Gbagbo's party said it was withdrawing from the peace process and demanded UN forces leave.
The UN Security Council called on Mr Gbagbo to rein in the protesters and said sanctions were possible. A statement is expected today.
In Paris, the French army Chief of Staff, General Henri Bentegeat - who has peacekeepers in the former colony - called for UN sanctions against Ivory Coast, saying both sides appeared unwilling to resolve the conflict that has lasted for more than three years.
"It's an insurrection against the transitional government organised by Gbagbo and [his political party] to bring power back into their hands," said Sidiki Konate, a rebel spokesman.
The president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, who is a key regional mediator, flew to Abidjan to talk to his Ivorian counterpart, Laurent Gbagbo, whom rebels accuse of orchestrating this week's unrest to undermine a new transitional government.
Yesterday UN peacekeepers were forced to pull out of a base at Guiglo, in the south-east of the country, after an armed group attacked the compound. Four people were killed, none of them from the UN's 200-plus staff.
Elsewhere, supporters of Mr Gbagbo blocked streets with burning tyres and stopped vehicles on the road to the international airport.
Mr Obasanjo took a lead role in negotiations to reunite Ivory Coast when it was divided between a government-held south and rebel-controlled north after a civil war in 2002.
The urgency of the situation was underscored by the fact that he left his own country amid a growing hostage crisis, with militants holding four foreign oil workers.
The latest unrest erupted in Ivory Coast on Monday after a UN-backed international mediation group recommended that parliament's expired mandate not be renewed. Mr Gbagbo is leading a one-year government of national unity that has diminished his executive powers.
The parliament, filled with his supporters, is viewed as Mr Gbagbo's last bastion of power, and the decision angered youth activists and the president's backers, who sent their followers on to the streets. Mr Gbagbo's party said it was withdrawing from the peace process and demanded UN forces leave.
The UN Security Council called on Mr Gbagbo to rein in the protesters and said sanctions were possible. A statement is expected today.
In Paris, the French army Chief of Staff, General Henri Bentegeat - who has peacekeepers in the former colony - called for UN sanctions against Ivory Coast, saying both sides appeared unwilling to resolve the conflict that has lasted for more than three years.
"It's an insurrection against the transitional government organised by Gbagbo and [his political party] to bring power back into their hands," said Sidiki Konate, a rebel spokesman.
posted by Marko at 1/19/2006 12:33:00 AM
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