French to stay in I Coast
14/11/2004 18:53  - (SA)  

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Marseille - French President Jacques Chirac lashed out on Sunday at the leadership of Ivory Coast, criticising a "questionable regime" and a spate of anti-Western violence in the African county that could degenerate into "anarchy".

Chirac said France had no intention of withdrawing its peacekeepers from Ivory Coast, where mayhem erupted last week after a government air strike killed nine French soldiers in the rebel-held north.

France, Ivory Coast's former colonial ruler, retaliated by wiping out the country's tiny air force, which sparked an uprising by loyalist youths who took to the streets of Abidjan and other cities with machetes, iron bars and clubs.

'Too much force'

Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo has criticised France's action as excessive, while authorities have accused Paris of using too much force to protect foreigners from violent mobs during several days of upheaval.

Chirac, speaking to a youth conference in the southern city of Marseille, denounced the loyalists as "a minority acting around a questionable regime", and said French peacekeepers were staying put.

The French president did not name Gbagbo, but heaped heavy criticism on his government.

"We do not want to allow a system to develop that would only lead to anarchy or a regime of a fascist nature," Chirac said.

- AP

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