I Coast opposition heads north
2004-04-28 21:03
Abidjan - A convoy carrying 45 opposition leaders was en route on Wednesday to northern Ivory Coast for meetings with civilians in areas that have been under rebel control for 19 months.
"It is a trip designed to show that reconciliation is possible, and has become a reality at the heart of the opposition," Sidiki Konate, a spokesperson for the rebel New Forces, said.
All seven opposition parties have joined forces in recent weeks to press President Laurent Gbagbo to implement a peace pact signed in January 2003 to end four months of civil war that erupted after a failed coup bid against the president.
Issues of national identity, land ownership and identification of foreigners, all catalysts for a September 2002 rebellion, feature prominently in the peace accords that also mandated the disarmament of the three rebel movements, now known as the New Forces.
The trip north to Korhogo and Ivory Coast's second city Bouake by the opposition parties, among them the political wing of the New Forces, comes at a tense time for the former west African powerhouse, which suffered its worst violence in months at a March 25 anti-government rally.
Claiming that as many as 500 of their supporters were killed in days of clashes with Ivorian defence and security forces, the opposition parties quit the unity government created under the peace pact and have refused all communication with Gbagbo, whom they blame for the violence.
The official death toll has been set at 37. An international inquiry commission was to release its report on the findings on Friday.
The convoy was forced to stop outside Tomoudi, a town just south of the capital Yamoussoukro, amid reports that a pro-government youth mob was awaiting its arrival. A detachment of UN peacekeepers accompanying the convoy investigated and allowed the vehicles to proceed without incident.