Ivorian Rebels blame Angolan landmines

2002-10-21 19:51

Abidjan - Ivorian rebels claimed on Monday the government used anti-personnel mines in the conflict and accusing Angola of providing the mines.

Guillaume Kigbafori Soro, leader of the rebels' political wing Ivory Coast Patriotic Movement (MPCI).

"We would like to inform the international community that Ilyushin cargo planes from Angola brought anti-personnel mines to the fronts" in three towns, Soro told reporters, adding that the mines had been planted in the cocoa capital of Daloa, the northeastern town of Bondoukou, and in M'Bahiakro in the center of the country.

He urged international observers to "come to these sites to verify what we are saying", recalling that the 1997 Ottawa Convention banning the use, trade and production of anti-personnel mines entered into force on March 1, 1999.

Angola has repeatedly denied reports that its troops were fighting alongside Ivorian soldiers against rebels who launched an uprising against the government on September 19.

The country's ambassador to Ivory Coast said on Monday the only existing bilateral defence deal was a training programme for troops, and denied that Angola had sold weapons or sent military instructors to Ivory Coast.

Ceasefire accusations fly

French troops on Monday deployed on a thin belt across the centre of Ivory Coast to monitor a fledgling ceasefire which the Ivorian army has already accused the rebels of breaking.

"We have reached all the zones in which we wanted to be present by Sunday evening," said Captain Valery Putz, a spokesperson for the chief of staff of the mission, code-named Operation Unicorn.

"We're going to conduct patrols, notably on main roads, so we can ensure that the ceasefire reached October 17 between the two sides is respected," he said.

Rebels who rose up on September 19 in Ivory Coast on Thursday agreed to a west African brokered ceasefire with government troops.

France agreed to have its troops monitor the ceasefire, from when it took effect on Friday until a west African peacekeeping force is set up.

On Monday, the French troops were still taking up new positions and making contact with the rebels who control the northern half of the country, and with army officials in the south.

No incidents were reported during the deployment, involving slightly more than half of the 1 000 French troops in Ivory Coast.

Looting in Bouake

But an Ivory Coast military spokesperson accused rebels of looting homes at an air base in the central town of Bouake, the second-largest city in Ivory Coast which fell under rebel control at the start of the uprising.

"The homes of the air base commander in Bouake and of his technical chief were looted by the assailants," Lieutenant Colonel Jules Yao Yao, spokesperson for the chief of staff, said during his daily briefing late Sunday on state television.

"The chief of staff notes that the ceasefire implies that the insurgents have a responsibility to protect people and goods in the zones under their control. In any case, the republican forces reserve a right of pursuit in light of these infractions," Yao Yao said.

Yao Yao also read a statement from the chief of staff, General Mathias Doue, urging the rebels to "dispose of their arms, for you are innocent victims of excessive ambitions and plans."

"This war, this absurd game, has lasted too long, and victory will not be on your side, cannot be on the side of the assailants," the statement said.

"We will never accept a partition of Ivory Coast, whatever the cost," Doue said, calling on rebel leaders to "rejoin us while there is still time."

Rebels refuse to disarm

Although agreeing to a ceasefire, the rebels have refused to disarm and continue to call for Gbagbo's resignation, as well as the reversal of an order to demobilise about 700 troops and assurances that the rights of Ivory Coast's Muslim majority population be respected.

"All patriots, those who feel left out, should understand that after our armed combat, we're now fighting with words around the negotiating table," rebel Sergeant Sherif Usman told a rally Sunday in Bouake.

Regional leaders are set to meet on Wednesday in Abidjan to discuss launching the political talks, while military leaders are to meet on Friday to put together the peacekeeping force to replace the French troops patrolling the buffer zone while the talks take place.

West African nations have previously deployed peacekeeping troops to Liberia and Sierra Leone, and had some success in policing the civil wars in those countries.

Their deployment is seen as the best hope of heading off Ivory Coast's headlong plunge into anarchy.

The United Nations has warned of a regional catastrophe if Ivory Coast fails to pull back from civil war, especially if violence sparks a refugee exodus. Hundreds of thousands of people have already been displaced within the country, and at least 400 were killed during the uprising and in the days that followed. - Sapa-AFP

- SAPA