'Ivory Coast war could resume'

2004-10-29 22:28

Bouake - A rebel leader has announced a state of emergency in northern Ivory Coast, accusing the government of massing troops near rebel positions in the west and warning the country's long-stagnant war could resume soon.

"The war is not over, it will start again soon," Guillaume Soro told reporters on Thursday at a news conference in his northern stronghold, Bouake.

Soro also imposed a 21:00 to 06:00 curfew in the rebel-held north and called on eight rebel ministers in Abidjan to leave their posts and head to Bouake.

In Abidjan, the commercial capital, military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jules Yao Yao declined to comment on the news, saying he was aware of Soro's declarations. He refused to comment on allegations troops were massing in the west.

Colonel Henry Aussavy, a spokesperson for French troops helping keep peace in the troubled country, played down Soro's remarks.

'Fighting will not resume'

"We're staying vigilant, as normal, but there's nothing special going on," Aussavy said. "We're confident and hopeful that fighting will not resume."

Government officials in Abidjan could not immediately be reached for comment.

Soro said the government was massing soldiers in the far west of the country, near Danane, close to the border with Guinea.

Numerous rebel checkpoints were erected on Thursday around Bouake, where rebels systematically searched vehicles driving through town.

Last week, rebels claimed they had seized a truck loaded with rocket-propelled grenade launchers, machine-guns, ammunition and hand-grenades that were allegedly sent to a dissident group by President Laurent Gbagbo office to destabilise Soro's rebels. The presidency denied the charge.

Rebels have controlled the northern half of Ivory Coast since a failed coup attempt in September 2002 sparked a civil war in the world's top cocoa producer.

French-brokered peace deal

Fighting eased with a French-brokered peace deal in January 2003 that established a unity government and handed rebel officials Cabinet posts. But deep differences remain and the country has remained tense and divided since.

France has about 4 000 peacekeepers in the country along with a 6 000-strong UN force and 1 200 West African peacekeepers, deployed mostly to patrol a fragile front line that splits the country in two. Ivory Coast was considered West Africa's most stable and economically advanced nation, but the country has been roiled by civil strife since a coup in 1999.

About 30 000 fighters, mostly rebel militias, are eventually supposed to lay down their weapons.

At follow-up peace talks in Accra, Ghana in July, rebels agreed to disarm starting no later than October 15.

But an accord brokered there also called for Gbagbo's government to institute political and legal reforms the rebels say is necessary before disarmament begins. Key among them is a rebel demand that the constitution be changed to ease rules for candidates standing in presidential elections.

- AP