Rebels in the Ivory Coast clashed with French forces yesterday around the western town of Duekoue, but the French foreign ministry said the fighting should not endanger peace talks planned in Paris later this month.
Elite Foreign Legion troops dug in around the strategic town came under sustained mortar fire from two factions that did not sign up to a ceasefire in October. Four French soldiers were injured and evacuated to a hospital in Yamoussoukro, the country’s administrative capital.
The two groups are not recognised by the Ivory Coast Patriotic Movement (MPCI), the main rebel group in the north of the country.
”We faced at least four attacks by two groups of about 70 men. They came in on foot, armed with mortars, on two different fronts,” a French army representative said.
A foreign ministry representative said the incidents were ”serious”, but not a violation of the ceasefire.
”The groups involved are not associated with the MIPC and other northern rebels and are not party to any truce,” he said. ”As far as we are concerned, the talks will be going ahead.”
The Paris peace talks, due to start on January 15, were called by the French foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, during a 48-hour visit to the war-torn west African country this weekend.
Amid mounting tension following evidence that some 200 foreign mercenaries were fighting for the president, Laurent Gbagbo, De Villepin secured promises of an immediate ceasefire from Gbagbo and the MPCI.
He also won an assurance from the president that all foreign soldiers would be sent home.
The French foreign minister also persuaded the rebels to drop their requirement that Gbago’s resignation should be the only topic of discussion at peace talks.
Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary general, has agreed to chair a summit of African leaders to enforce any accord reached in Paris.
The increasingly bitter Ivory Coast conflict — which erupted out of a failed coup d’état on September 19 — has split the country of 16-million people along ethnic lines and destroyed its reputation for stability.
The MPCI signed a truce on October 17, but the main western group, the MPIGO, did not emerge until after, when it seized key towns near the border with Liberia in the cocoa-rich west of the country at the end of November.
The MPIGO has said it does not consider itself bound by the October ceasefire, and was not consulted by De Villepin, but it has said it is willing to send envoys to the Paris talks.
All the rebels want Gbagbo to resign, arguing that his government fans ethnic hatred. The government says that is out of the question and the rebels must disarm.
France, the former colonial power, has sent more than 2 500 troops to the country to safeguard its citizens and other foreigners and enforce the shaky ceasefire.
Yesterday’s incidents were the first time that the western rebels, who have a reputation for violence and ill-discipline, have directly attacked French soldiers. In previous clashes, they have said later that their actions were directed against the government.
Just before the clashes, an MPCI representative said he doubted whether Gbagbo would respect his latest assurances. ”Of course he won’t keep his word,” said Sidiki Konate.
”He will say one thing in the morning and another in the afternoon. France must do all it can to make sure he keeps his promises.” – Guardian Unlimited Â