Automatic weapons fire erupted early on Thursday in Ivory Coast’s economic capital Abidjan in what a disgruntled soldier said was a protest over the imminent demobilisation of hundreds of troops.
Prime Minister Pascal Affi N’Guessan, asked whether a new military coup was under way, told AFP: ”It’s not important to label what is going on. What’s important is to manage the situation, and we’re trying to manage the situation and restore calm.”
President Laurent Gbagbo is currently in Rome.
The soldier, Kone Daouda, who gave his rank as private first class, said some 750 soldiers were mounting the protest in Abidjan and in the central city of Bouake, 400 kilometres north of Abidjan, where automatic weapons fire was also reported.
Gunfire was also heard in the northern town of Korhogo, according to reports.
”The defence ministry wants to send us back to civilian life,” Daouda said. ”We’ve been in the army two years. We refuse. To make ourselves heard, we have only our arms. We’ll go all the way,” he said by telephone. He would not say where he was calling from.
Weapons fire that began at around 3am (0300 GMT) in Abidjan was continuing at 6:30 am, and diplomats said mutineers were besieging the national police barracks in the Cocody district, one of the city’s largest.
A top gendarmerie official said on condition of anonymity that the barracks had been attacked, ”but we will regain the situation soon. We outnumber them.”
Witnesses said broadcasting stations in Cocody and the Plateaux district did not appear to be targetted.
Witnesses said that shooting also broke out in Bouake and in the northern town of Korhogo.
The French embassy asked all nationals to stay at home and not send their children to school.
Ivory Coast was regarded as a haven of peace and stability until a December 1999 military coup staged by General Robert Guei, who toppled president Henri Konan Bedie.
But Robert Guei had to reluctantly accede power to Gbagbo after losing presidential elections in 2000.
Gbagbo’s government has since been dogged by coup attempts. – Sapa-AFP