/ 8 April 2011

Peacekeepers’ retaliation broke the impasse

Enough was enough. The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Côte d’Ivoire (Unoci) had been taking a hammering in recent days. Its base was attacked with heavy weapons, the office of its mission chief was hit by sniper fire and 11 of its peacekeepers shot. It was under such provocation that the mission finally decided to strike back.

For months Unoci had been pinned in its base, forced to watch as Côte d’Ivoire slid into civil war, with seemingly little will — or ability — to intervene.

As in the Democratic Republic of Congo and elsewhere the 9 000 peacekeepers have simply lacked the manpower to prevent widespread atrocities over a vast area. They can return fire only when they are shot at.

One of Unoci’s most important roles has been the protection of the Golf hotel, where Alassane Ouattara and his government-in-waiting have been holed up for four months. On a visit last month peacekeepers in the hotel grounds sprawled in hot and humid tents and in several white, armoured UN vehicles, one of which had a hotel-branded umbrella perched above it. The mood was passive.

The scene was altogether less serene for Unoci patrols in central Abidjan, which have been under frequent attack from Laurent Gbagbo’s forces.

The rebel offensive against Abidjan in recent days broke the impasse. Gbagbo turned his guns on the Unoci base and 170 civilian staff were evacuated. Eleven peacekeepers were seriously wounded. It was no wonder mission chief Choi Yong-jin warned it was at “breaking point”.

On Monday night the organisation adopted an unusually robust posture. Unoci and French helicopters fired on Gbagbo’s presidential palace and military barracks. Unoci claimed it launched the campaign to “neutralise” the heavy weapons that Gbagbo’s special forces had been using against the civilian population, destroying them in four locations.

Choi has claimed: “Unoci’s military impartiality is one of the cornerstones of its existence in Côte d’Ivoire.” But there is no doubt that Monday night’s offensive may have handed a swift victory to Ouattara. So far, it appears to have been far less controversial than the intervention in Libya, presumably because the African Union has also endorsed Ouattara.

Dr Adekeye Adebajo, who has worked for the UN in Africa and Iraq and is now executive director of the Centre for Conflict Resolution in Cape Town, said: “The fact that Gbagbo’s troops attacked the UN justifies the response. But it could be complicated if it is seen to be co-ordinating with the rebels to topple Gbagbo.”– Guardian News & Media 2011