Troops pull back from airport
2004-11-22 11:43
Abidjan - French troops are to begin to pull back on Tuesday from Abidjan's international airport, the spokesperson for the Ivory Coast army said.
"The units deployed at the airport at Port Bouet and the Golf Hotel in Cocody will pull back from their positions on Tuesday the 23rd and Saturday November 27, 2004," said Colonel Jules Yao Yao, reading on national television a statement following a meeting between the Ivorian army and French military forces.
No French military officials in Ivory Coast were immediately available for comment.
Following the death of nine of its peacekeepers in an air strike by a government warplane on November 6, French forces destroyed the Ivory Coast's small fleet of aircraft and took over the airport in the commercial capital Abidjan.
The moves sparked anti-French riots by supporters of Ivory Coast President Laurant Gbagbo.
The Golf hotel has been used by members of the national reconciliation government from the New Forces rebel movement.
Yao Yao urged Ivorians to refrain from hindering the movement of French troops.