I Coast asks US to step in

2004-11-13 17:49

Washington - The United States should ask Paris to order French troops in the crisis-hit Ivory Coast back to their barracks, the special envoy of the west African nation's president said Friday.

Pascal Kokora, President Laurent Gbagbo's special envoy to the United States, also urged Washington to push for a postponement of any UN resolution seeking sanctions against Ivory Coast.

Scores have been killed in violence in the country's main city of Abidjan after French forces wiped out the Ivorian air force following an airstrike that killed nine French peacekeepers and a US national last week.

"The United States, as the beacon of freedom, should help the democratically elected government of Mr Gbagbo by asking that the French troops return to the barracks, and also seeking postponement of the UN resolution," Kokora told AFP.

He said he was also lobbying support from the US Congress.

Kokora said South African President Thabo Mbeki, who had been entrusted with the task of finding a resolution to Ivory Coast's internal conflict, should be given more time to hammer out a deal between the warring parties.

Mbeki given more time

The killing of the French peacekeepers came amid a series of government strikes on the rebel-held north of the divided country, and violated an 18-month-old ceasefire reached last May to end Ivory Coast's civil war.

The UN Security Council has already put off a vote on a French-backed resolution until Monday to give Mbeki more time to forge a deal, but Kokora is seeking a further postponement.

The council had been set to adopt a resolution on Wednesday giving the divided nation's government and rebels 30 days to implement a stalled peace accord or face an arms embargo and other measures.

But after a flurry of last-minute diplomacy, the vote was delayed to give Mbeki's diplomatic push a chance to yield results.

Kokora said imposing sanctions on Ivory Coast would reward rebels attempting to resist a disarmament process and overthrow the elected government by force.

Around 60 people were killed and several hundred wounded, and one in four foreign homes looted during the violence, according to government and military sources in Abidjan.

The French military said Friday that several dozen foreigners had been victims of assaults, rapes and attempted rapes during mob violence in Ivory Coast, from where several thousand of foreigners have been evacuated home.

- AFP