When Angola turns down a peacekeeping job it is like a plumber who advertises ‘no job too dark or too dirty†saying no to fixing your drain.
The Angolan military prevailed in one of the continent’s nastiest and longest wars and came out the other side ready to project that country’s influence in the region.
But in Luanda this week Foreign Minister João Bernardo de Miranda said no to sending men into the former model state of Côte d’Ivoire where violence has become endemic after 18 months of civil war.
Angola had committed to sending two battalions to Côte d’Ivoire as part of the projected 6 000 peacekeepers being deployed there by the United Nations.
The rejection takes on particular significance since Angola is currently the Southern African member on the UN Security Council that voted in February to send in the blue helmets.
They will be joining 4 000 French troops and 1 000 from the Economic Community of West African States.
‘We have been receiving unfavourable statements on the part of some Côte d’Ivoire political forces concerning an eventual participation of Angola in this force,†said Miranda.
The minister indicated it would be beneath his country’s dignity to send troops to the West African state after setting a precedent of distinction in Congo (Brazzaville) and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In both cases, he said, the intervention had led to the restoration of peace.
‘We would like so much to share this experience with other people that need it so much. But in the face of this difficulty, Angola feels it must above all safeguard its interests within its borders.
Miranda indicated that Angola would be more circumspect in future decisions on peacekeeping missions.
The development comes as a blow for the UN force, known as Minuci, due to deploy in Côte d’Ivoire this month. The advance party for the peacekeepers is already in place and spokesperson Jean-Victor Kolo insisted the operation would continue despite a new surge of violence caused by the government of Laurent Gbagbo’s brutal suppression of a protest march at the weekend.
Gbagbo’s officials admit that at least 70 people died demonstrating against his tardiness in implementing the Linas-Marcoussis peace accord reached in France in 2003.
Rebels and opposition parties claim the death toll is more than 300 and they have pulled out of the transitional government.
‘We have decided to suspend our participation in the government because it’s totally unacceptable for security reasons to shoot unarmed people,†said Amdou Kone the spokesperson for the rebel Patriotic Movement of Côte d’Ivoire.
The rebels are part of the ‘New Forces†who joined the transitional government hoping to end the war that broke out in September 2002.
The New Forces insist their protests were not designed to topple the transitional government, which is supposed to be heading for elections in October 2005.
Observers fear the latest violence underlines the reality that the country once regarded as the jewel of post-colonial West Africa has descended into the kind of endemic violence and disorder that characterises its regional partners.