Rebel leader sneers at sacking

2004-05-22 16:12

Bouake, Ivory Coast - The leader of Ivory Coast's northern rebellion told supporters on Friday he wouldn't accept a presidential order sacking him from his Cabinet post, accusing President Laurent Gbagbo of overstepping his powers and preparing to restart war.

Gbagbo fired rebel chief Guillaume Soro from his post as minister of information this week.

Soro was brought into the government under a French-brokered peace deal which ended fighting that killed over three thousand people and forced a million to flee.

Speaking to around 500 supporters in Bouake, the main city of the rebel-held north, Soro said Gbagbo had overstepped his power and "cannot dismiss a minister".

A ruling party minister said Soro had misunderstood the peace deal, signed in the French town of Linas-Marcoussis in January 2003.

"It's the president who signed the decrees nominating the ministers, so he can revoke his signature," said National Reconciliation Minister Dano Djedje.

The Linas-Marcoussis accord said the Ivorian prime minister would have "executive prerogatives," on such matters, but the document is vague on detail.

Ahmed Toure, speaking for Prime Minister Seydou Diarra agreed with Soro, saying "it's not the president who can fire" ministers.

During a private meeting with Gbagbo this week, Diarra threatened to resign, but foreign diplomats persuaded him "to reconsider," Toure said.

Ministers from Ivory Coast's three rebel groups and key opposition parties have been boycotting government meetings since March, when at least 120 were killed in a crackdown on an attempted political protest, according to a UN report.

Gbagbo fired Soro and two other Cabinet members after ordering the salaries of boycotting ministers cut off.

Soro accused Gbagbo of planning to attack his rebel movement, which holds the mainly Muslim north. The mainly Christian and animist south remains under loyalist control.

"All our information indicates that Gbagbo has planned bloody attacks on our borders," said Soro.

Ivory Coast, the world's largest cocoa producer, was for decades since its 1960 independence considered a haven of stability in turbulent West Africa. This reputation was shattered by a 1999 coup d'etat, which ushered in spiralling political and ethnic unrest.

France has about four thousand troops in the West African nation, backing up a UN peacekeeping force that plans to build up to 6 240 by the end of July.

- AP