More sanctions for I Coast?

2005-09-22 15:09

New York - The United Nations security council announced on Wednesday that the president of its sanctions committee is to visit Ivory Coast, in a further step toward imposing individual sanctions against people suspected of blocking the peace process in the West African nation.

A date has not been set for the visit by Greek UN ambassador Adamantios Vassilakis, said security council President Lauro Baja of the Philippines.

His goal will be "to assess the progress made by all parties towards the implementation of their commitments, bearing in mind the committee's mandate under Resolution 1572, so that the council will be in a position to take appropriate action in response to those who pose a threat to the peace and national reconciliation process in Cote d'Ivoire", Baja said.

Arms embargo

The UN security council has imposed an embargo on arms to Ivory Coast and can also activate at any time a system of sanctions against some Ivorian personalities deemed an obstacle to peace.

An ad hoc committee of the council has drawn up a list of people suspected of blocking the peace process, inciting hatred or violating the arms embargo.

But at the request of Pretoria, which was asked by the African Union (AU) last November to mediate in the crisis, the sanctions - including freezing of assets and travel bans - have not been applied.

French foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy on Sunday dangled the threat of sanctions against parties blocking a peace process in the strife-torn former French colony.

In a speech before the UN general assembly, he said: "All Ivorian parties must understand they cannot, with impunity, obstruct peace efforts with hateful speeches or by questioning democratic rules."

Reunification process

Earlier UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said it would be impossible to hold presidential elections as planned in Ivory Coast on October 30 and hinted at international sanctions against the warring sides there.

Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer and once a haven of stability in West Africa, has been split in two since a failed coup against President Laurent Gbagbo in September 2002, pitting rebels from the Muslim-dominated north against the Christian-populated south.

The AU asked South Africa to spearhead international efforts to ensure progress toward reunification after a 2003 Ivorian peace deal stalled. But the mediation by President Thabo Mbeki has failed to break a deadlock between the two rival sides.

The Ivorian rebels accused Mbeki of having ulterior motives of economic expansionism, giving biased rulings and reportedly selling arms to Gbagbo's government.

On Wednesday, however, the Philippines ambassador said: "Council members reiterated their support for the continuing facilitation efforts of president Thabo Mbeki of South Africa."

- AFP