Ivory Coast peace 'urgent'
2004-11-10 16:43
Cape Town - Violence in Ivory Coast should be brought quickly under control or it could become a regional problem, said Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on Wednesday.
She told parliament's foreign affairs committee that Ivory Coast's West African neighbours could be affected if that country's conflict turned into a full-scale war.
Dlamini-Zuma said: "We need to contain it within Cote d'Ivoire."
She said Ivory Coast's conflict was of great concern to South Africa.
Dlamini-Zuma said Ivory Coast's problems started when that country's constitution was changed to exclude people from the presidency who were not "Ivorian enough".
Only citizens with two Ivorian parents may become president. Having only one Ivorian parent is not enough.
The minister said: "It's the question of citizenship; who is Ivorian? That is at the centre of the conflict."
Many citizens of neighbouring states live and work in Ivory Coast.
Renewed violence erupted in Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, on Saturday.
- SAPA