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I Coast quells army protests
26/03/2008 21:27 - (SA)
Abidjan - Ivory Coast's army chief persuaded soldiers angry over their removal from lucrative checkpoints under a post-war disarmament process to end protests that killed one person, officials said on Wednesday.
Philippe Mangou, Ivory Coast's army chief of staff, visited the volatile western towns of Duekoue and Guiglo on Tuesday to calm troops who had taken to the streets in two days of protests, shooting into the air and injuring at least 12 civilians.
"The general held talks with the soldiers," said an army communications officer, who asked not to be identified. "I think they clearly understood because calm has returned."
Demonstrations began in Duekoue on Monday when soldiers rampaged through the streets after one of their comrades was killed in his home by robbers, kindling their resentment at losing control of the highway checkpoints - where bribes and extortion supplement the wages of many poorly-paid troops.
Duekoue and Guiglo lie on the southern edge of a former buffer zone established between the rebel north and government-controlled south after a brief 2002-2003 civil war in the world's largest cocoa exporter.
The buffer zone was dismantled under a March 2007 peace accord and checkpoints on the main highways were transferred to police and gendarmes in January under disarmament agreements.
A hospital worker in Guiglo said at least one civilian had been killed by a stray bullet during the protests there.
"A young man was killed," he told Reuters, asking not to be identified. "The town has returned to normal today. Everyone is back to work and things are running normally."
Soldiers had left the streets on Wednesday, residents said, and police and gendarmes were manning checkpoints. In nearby Duekoue, residents also reported that calm had returned.
"There's no longer a problem. Everyone has returned to work. Me, I'm heading back to my farm," said Mamdou Kone, a coffee and cocoa planter in Duekoue said.
Duekoue is a hotbed of ethnic tension between local people and immigrant farmers from further north, which was key factor in triggering the war.
Thousands of pro-government militia fighters in the area, as well as regular soldiers and northern rebels, are due to be disarmed under the peace deal, which aims to distribute identity documents ahead of elections due later this year.
- Reuters
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