POLITICS-IVORY COAST: French Intervention Blocks Rebels

By Julio Godoy Reprint | | Print |

Julio Godoy

PARIS, Oct 2 2002 (IPS) - French military intervention on behalf of the government in the Ivory Coast has proved crucial in blocking a rapid victory by rebels, according to diplomatic sources in Paris.

French troops have taken control of roads between the northern city of Bouaké, already in the hands of the rebels, and the capital Yamoussoukro about 100 kilometres south, according to diplomatic reports. The intervention has brought some reprieve to the embattled government of President Laurent Gbagbo in the civil war raging since September 19, these reports say.

French troops have taken positions also in other cities in the centre and the west of the country, forming a protective ring around Yamoussoukro and the port city Abidjan on the Atlantic Coast, the reports say.

"Given the regrettable state of the Forces Armées Nationales de C- te d’Ivoire (Fanci, the official Ivory Coast army), you can say that only French intervention has so far stopped the rebels’ move towards the capital and Abidjan," a West African diplomat told IPS. The 20,000 national troops are poorly armed, military experts say.

The French government decided last weekend to support Gbagbo, and supplied the Fanci new military vehicles, communications equipment and food rations. France also sent an undetermined number of soldiers to join its 650 military personnel in Abidjan.

Operation Licorne launched by the French army has also improved equipment at its base in Abidjan. The French have set up tactical command centres at this base and at Yamoussoukro airport.

Officials say French forces are stationed in the Ivory Coast only to protect and evacuate French citizens. Some 20,000 French citizens lived in the Ivory Coast until mid-September. Many have been evacuated since the civil war began.

A spokesperson at the ministry of foreign affairs in Paris says that despite "logistic support" to Fanci troops France "will not interfere" in the military conflict. But the spokesperson said that "France has a responsibility in the Ivory Coast, that of defending the country’s independence and unity. We will not tolerate destabilisation of the country."

Defence Minister Michelle Alliot-Marie said Wednesday that France will not "fight a war against anyone." The objective of the French forces is "to protect foreign citizens from any abuses," she said. "We will support all initiatives to restore peace in the country."

France is obliged to support the Fanci under a defence co-operation treaty signed in 1961, a year after the Ivory Coast gained independence from France.. France also signed another co-operation treaty in 1978, whose contents are still secret.

Rebel leaders have asked France to stay out of the conflict. A rebel leader identified only as Hercules said: "I don’t trouble the international community, therefore I ask you not to interfere in our internal affairs. Either we triumph or we die. I am already dead anyway." On Wednesday, some 5,000 people are reported to have demonstrated in Bouaké against French intervention in the conflict.

There are conflicting reports on the causes of the civil war. But there is agreement that the government of Laurent Gbagbo who came to power in October 2000 has not been able to re-establish order in a country prone to violence and ethnic division.

Claudine Vidal from the French National Centre for Scientific Research, and an expert on the Ivory Coast, says that the police and soldiers had resorted to kidnapping and other crime after a coup by General Robert Guei in December 1999. Soldiers and officers loyal to Guei were expelled from the army in October 2000 after Guei was overthrown after eight months in power and the present civilian regime took over. Many soldiers loyal to Guei were killed, provoking a desire for revenge, Vidal says.

"But such practices continued under Gbagbo to the point that traders in Abidjan launched a strike against such rackets in June," Vidal says. "On several occasions taxi drivers struck work to protest against the killing of their colleagues by the police and soldiers."

Tensions have arisen also because the society is divided along ethnic and religious lines. The population of 16 million comprises Muslims, Christians and other groups. This population includes about four million people of foreign origin, mostly from neighbouring Burkina Faso.

Some reports suggest that intervention from neighbouring Liberia and Burkina Faso provoked the conflict. Military and diplomatic observers in Paris say the excellent organisation and equipment of the rebels is evidence of military and material support from outside the country. The presence of English speaking fighters among the rebels suggests that mercenaries loyal to Liberian leader Charles Taylor have joined the attack, experts say.

Both Taylor and Burkina Faso’s President Blaise Compaoré had supported Guei during his short reign. Guei was found killed on September 19 on the first day of the rebels’ attack from the north. The killing is seen by observers as an attempt by Gbagbo’s forces to eliminate opponents.

Other opponents of the present regime have been given diplomatic protection. Former presidential candidate Alassane Ouattara now lives in the house of the French ambassador in Yamoussoukro.

POLITICS-IVORY COAST: French Intervention Blocks Rebels

By Julio Godoy Reprint | | Print |

Julio Godoy

PARIS, Oct 2 2002 (IPS) - French military intervention on behalf of the government in the Ivory Coast has proved crucial in blocking a rapid victory by rebels, according to diplomatic sources in Paris.
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