/ 30 June 2006

Ivorian troops reject integration with rebels

Government armed forces in the divided Côte d’Ivoire on Thursday rejected rebel demands for the loyalist and rebel forces to be integrated and the rebels to be paid wage arrears.

Disarmament talks between government and rebel forces in the rebel stronghold of Bouake follow four years of division in the West African country that began with a failed military coup in 2002.

Military rebels have been holding the north since, and the Thursday meeting of leading military in this northern town was part of the latest attempts to reach a peaceful settlement.

But a communiqué issued by government forces after the meeting rebuffed a proposal by the rebels, known as the New Forces, for an integrated staff headquarters as indispensable for a return to peace.

The government forces ”rejected any idea of a transitional integrated staff headquarters, believing that the present framework was appropriate”, it said.

The loyalist forces likewise ”registered disagreement” with the desire of the rebels to have their wage arrears paid and rejected a request that the military ranks of the New Forces should be recognised.

The two sides agreed to continue the process of pre-regroupment as a first step to disarmament. The process has been completed in the case of the loyalists but is still ongoing in the case of the rebels.

The meeting was headed by the two chiefs of staff, government General Philippe Mangou and New Forces General Soumaila Bakayoko, together with Côte d’Ivoire Defence Minister Rene Aphing Kouassi.

A further meeting is planned for July 6 in Abidjan.

Troop disarmament is a key step in the peace process in Côte d’Ivoire, which has been divided since September 2002 when the rebel New Forces failed to oust President Laurent Gbagbo in a coup attempt.

At their last meeting in Abidjan on June 15, government forces said they had completed the initial stage of troop withdrawal from the front line to designated sites across the south of the country in readiness for final disarming. The rebels said the withdrawal of their troops would be completed in two weeks.

The troop withdrawals are designed to lead to the demobilisation of 42 500 New Forces rebels, 5 000 regular army troops and 12 000 members of the western-based militias loyal to Gbagbo.

Disarmament, which has not been implemented over the past four years despite several peace deals, is one of the principle elements of the peace process directed by Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny.

Banny is tasked under a United Nations plan with leading the country to a general election, to be held at the latest by the end of October.

Nearly 7 000 UN peacekeepers backed by 4 000 French troops are deployed in Côte d’Ivoire — once a beacon of stability and prosperity in West Africa — to prevent the resumption of hostilities.

Another major stumbling block to peace has been voter registration. One of the main reasons behind the civil war was the disqualification by Gbagbo’s government of political opponents on the grounds that they were not Ivorian.

On Thursday, Justice Minister Mamadou Kone inaugurated a committee to oversee a pilot voter-identification scheme, which has already begun in seven towns across the country.

The eight-member committee, which he will chair, will discuss the budget to extend the scheme nationwide and is expected to meet in the middle of next week.

Under the programme, magistrates and officials will deliver birth certificates to people over 13 who have no identity documents if community leaders and village elders confirm where they were born. Eventually they will be issued with an Ivorian identity card. — Sapa-AFP