French 'killed 30 in I Coast'

2004-11-07 11:55

Paris - French troops killed more than 30 Ivory Coast nationals and wounded at least 100 others in the ongoing crisis in the west African country, Ivorian parliament speaker Mamadou Coulibaly said on French public radio France Inter on Sunday.

"In (the main cities of) Abidjan and Yamassoukro the French army killed more than 30 people and wounded more than 100, people who were unarmed, to avenge the blood of nine dead French soldiers," said Coulibaly.

The nine French troops were killed and another 30 were wounded in an air raid on Saturday by Ivory Coast warplanes in the central Ivorian city of Bouake.

Coulibaly accused France of "occupying" his country and slammed President Jacques Chirac, accusing him of having armed the rebels who control the north of the country.

"Since the beginning of this crisis, we have had the feeling and the proof that it is Jacques Chirac who armed the rebels in the first place," he said, accusing France of "conniving" with the rebels.

"The population and the Ivorian state wish this army of occupation would vacate the territory and leave," he said.

He said the attack in which the French soldiers were killed was "an accident, the sort of thing that happens when there is a war." He insisted that the French military were killed by rebel missiles and not by the bombing by the Ivorian army.

"We did not bombard the French army camp, it was rebel missiles aimed at our troops, who were opposite (the camp) which hit the French forces and did the damage," he said.

French reinforcements were expected in Ivory Coast after continuing unrest overnight, in which French troops had to head off thousands of demonstrators marching on Abidjan's international airport, which is controlled by French forces.

- AFP