French troops on Sunday created a buffer zone stretching through the centre of Ivory Coast to secure a fragile ceasefire in a month-long uprising that has left rebels in control of half the west African nation.
Two French convoys of jeeps, trucks and armored transports carrying troops and tents crossed the rebel strongold of Bouake en route to the capital Yamoussoukro on Sunday morning. Rebels escorted the convoy through Bouake, the country’s second-largest city, and five kilometres past the last rebel checkpoint on the outskirts of town.
”The men understood that the French are not against us, and that France is mandated to serve as an intervention force,” rebel leader Sergeant Sherif Usman said. ”I hope that they will keep to their role as a buffer force, because if they ask us to respect the ceasefire, it must be respected by both sides,” he said.
Usman and French Commander Luc Courcelle held their first meeting under a thatched shelter near a Baptist school earlier on Sunday to hammer out details of the deployment. Previously, the rebels had accused the French of supporting Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, whom they have vowed to oust. But at a rally in Bouake’s main roundabout, where 3 000 people gathered to listen to rebel leaders explain the ceasefire and upcoming political talks with the government, no one mentioned the French.
”We are all Ivorians, but Ivory Coast is suffering because of just one man. Ivory Coast doesn’t belong to just one ethnic group. Ivory Coast is one and indivisible,” Usman told the crowd through a megaphone.
”We will die for you if the problems are not solved, we will fight,” he said. ”All patriots, those who feel left out, should understand that after our armed combat, we’re now fighting with words around the negotiating table,” he added.
Rebels and the government agreed to a ceasefire on Thursday, but the rebels have refused to disarm. The government’s army claimed on Sunday the first violation of the agreement, which also called for protection of property, when residences at the Bouake air base were looted.
The army called on ”all mothers in the Ivory Coast, all women who truly know the value of life to intercede with their children so they will return to the Republic which will certainly welcome them.”
West African mediators brokered the ceasefire, and have agreed to facilitate political talks between the rebels and government. Among the rebels’ demands are Gbagbo’s resignation, the reversal of an order to demobilise about 700 troops, and to ensure the rights of Ivory Coast’s Muslim majority population who they claim have been marginalised.
Regional leaders are set to meet on Wednesday in Abidjan to discuss launching the political talks, while military leaders are to meet on Friday to put together the peacekeeping force to replace the French troops patrolling the buffer zone while the talks take place.
West African nations have previously deployed peacekeeping troops to Liberia and Sierra Leone, and had some success in policing the civil wars in those countries. It is now seen as the best hope of heading off Ivory Coast’s headlong plunge into anarchy, which began September 19 with an uprising of disgruntled soldiers and former soldiers.
Leaders of French-speaking countries, at a meeting in Beirut of the 56-member Francophone organization, condemned the rebellion and threw their support behind the Ecowas initiative.
”We call on the entire political class and the people of Ivory Coast to show restraint, refrain from resorting to violence and preserve the lives of the people and property,” the statement said.
Despite the ceasefire, the United Nations decided on Thursday to evacuate all its non-essential personnel and their families from Abidjan. The United States announced a similar move on Friday. Five European nations — Belgium, Britain, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain — on Wednesday advised their nationals in Ivory Coast to leave the country.
The United Nations has warned of a regional catastrophe if Ivory Coast fails to pull back from civil war, especially if violence sparks a refugee exodus. Hundreds of thousands of people have already been displaced within the country, and at least 400 were killed in the uprising.
The revolt in Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer, pushed cocoa prices to 17-year highs, but news of the truce saw prices ease. – Sapa-AFP