Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Abidjan (Agenzia Fides) – While the UN Security Council has asked that the Ivory Coast set a date for presidential elections, an armed conflict has broken out in Man, in the northeastern part of the nation, showing the presence of an opposition in the peace process. On the evening of February 1, conflict broke out between the New Forces, supported by the UN Mission in Ivory Coast (ONUCI), and an armed group.
The rebels have been dubbed “enemies of peace” by a New Forces spokesman. New Forces is the movement that since September 2002 has controlled the northeastern part of the Ivory Coast, following a failed coups. For years, the Ivory Coast has been divided in two: the northeast under the control of the New Forces, and the rest in the hands of the army of President Gbagbo. In a ceasefire effort, negotiated by the international community, French soldiers of the Licorne mission have been deployed, along with Blue Helmets from the ONUCI (who substitute a previous pan-African mission). After years without negotiation talks, on March 4, 2007, peace accords were signed in Ougadougou, capital of Burkina Faso, by President Gbagbo and the New Forces. Guillaume Soro, representative of the NF was appointed the first Prime Minister of a government of national unity that was to prepare for political and presidential elections.
However, these elections have been postponed more than once already, and thus the UN is placing pressures to see if they can occur this year. In the meantime, the process of disarmament and integration of New Forces soldiers continues slowly but surely. A census of the population is also being taken, for the electoral lists. On this last point, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has registered a little over 4 million of the total of 9 million voters. The IEC has accelerated the registration proceedings of the electors. As for what regards the disarmament, the incident in Man confirms that the NF have been only partially disarmed and that there are still divergences within its ranks. The attackers, in fact, were part of a dissident group of the NF. According to observers on Ivory Coast affairs, the fact that the areas controlled by the NF are reinstalling the administration of the central States, has bothered many of the soldiers who had taken advantage of being “the authority” in the area. During these past years, the division of the northeast led to the creation of a war economy, based on extortions, roadblocks, contraband, and other more or less legal businesses controlled by the various groups that formed the New Forces. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 3/2/2009)
