Probe French fire - I Coast
2004-12-08 13:16
New York - Ivory Coast has demanded an independent international investigation focusing on French reprisals for an Ivorian air strike that destroyed the country's tiny air force in early November and sparked anti-foreigner riots.
Ivory Coast's UN Ambassador Philippe Djangone-Bi also demanded on Tuesday that France's 5 000 troops in the country, which operate independently, be integrated into the 6 000-strong UN peacekeeping force in the country.
At a news conference, Djangone-Bi said only an impartial investigation will determine who is responsible for serious violations of international law and determine compensation for damages.
Clearly indicating that Ivory Coast blames France, its former colonial ruler, he questioned the "reprisals" carried out by French forces, France's speed in getting the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution, its impartiality, and its "excessive use of force".
"It is ... imperative that these investigations are assigned to independent international organisations: they are supposed to be more impartial than Ivory Coast or France whose respective interests, obvious and hidden, in Ivory Coast incline them naturally to partiality and subjectivity," Djangone-Bi said.
New timetable
Ivory Coast has been split into a rebel-held north and loyalist south since a September 2002 coup attempt propelled the world's largest cocoa grower into civil war. Both sides signed peace accords but failed to carry them out.
Violence erupted on November 6 when President Laurent Gbagbo launched surprise bombing attacks on the rebel-held north for three days, citing insurgents' failure to disarm.
An air strike on November 6 killed nine French peacekeepers and an American aid worker. French troops retaliated by destroying the country's tiny air force, sparking anti-foreigner riots by loyalist youth in south and brief, unprecedented battles between French and Ivory Coast forces.
President Thabo Mbeki, who has been trying to mediate, announced on Monday that government and rebel official have agreed on a new timetable to carry out a long-stalled peace plan in West Africa's economic hub.
Djangone-Bi also called for the beginning of the disarmament process, the restoration of Ivory Coast's territorial integrity, the organisation of a constitutional referendum and the organisation of transparent general elections in 2005.
- AP