President lashes out at UN

2005-06-07 13:52

Luanda - Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo has accused the United Nations (UN) of treating African nations like "colonies", by systematically siding with their former colonial rulers in decisions about the continent.

"As far as Ivory Coast goes, the security council systematically turns to France," Gbagbo told Angolan state media late on Monday, during a two-day state visit to the southern African state.

"Nowadays they are speaking of the reform of the security council. This does not interest me. I would like reforms in the heart of the UN," he said, arguing the world body was founded in 1945, at a time when most African nations were still under the colonial yoke.

Angola thanked for their support

Gbagbo thanked his Angolan counterpart Jose Eduardo Dos Santos for his support during the West African country's civil war.

"Angola did the necessary when we were attacked from all sides," he said. "Within the security council, Angola strongly defended us."

Gbagbo, who has long enjoyed warm ties with Dos Santos, said he hoped "Angola will continue to be on our side until the end of the peace process in Ivory Coast".

Dos Santos meanwhile hailed the "progress on the political and military fronts in Ivory Coast", adding that Angola, which emerged from a 27-year civil war in 2002, supported "crisis resolution through dialogue and negotiation".

The great divide

Ivory Coast has been effectively split in two since a rebel uprising was launched in September 2002 against Gbagbo.

In the aftermath of the rebellion, Gbagbo reportedly accessed arms and mercenaries from Angola to fight the rebels — a charge that his government and Luanda have assiduously denied.

The Ivorian leader said relations with former colonial ruler France were at a low.

Tensions with France rose last November when Ivorian government planes violated a ceasefire with strikes on rebel-held towns, sparking a wave of violence that culminated in anti-French riots in the main city of Abidjan.

Hope for free and fair elections

The 15-member UN security council on Friday approved an elections monitoring team for Ivory Coast to ensure the vote in the West African country is free and fair.

The unanimous decision asks UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to select a high representative for the elections, after consultations with the African Union (AU) and its mediator in the Ivorian crisis, South African President Thabo Mbeki.

The resolution says any efforts to interfere with the elections will be seen as hampering implementation of an April 6 peace accord signed in Pretoria.

Under the Pretoria peace pact, Gbagbo agreed to let his main rival Alassane Ouattara contest this year's presidential elections — a key sticking point in the peace process.

The UN also decided to extend the mandate of the UN peacekeeping operation in Ivory Coast (Unoci), and of the French forces that support it, until June 24, with the possibility of renewing it for an additional seven months.

- AFP