| Submit your comments on this article |
| East/Subsaharan Africa |
| France bolsters Ivory Coast peace force |
| 2003-02-06 |
| France is strengthening its military presence in Ivory Coast to protect western nationals there and enforce a truce between rebel groups and the government. An agreement that no one wants except the French. Paris began deploying some 450 soldiers to its former colony earlier this week, to back up 2,500 troops already in Ivory Coast, said a spokesman for the French armed forces. That tears it. There's no hope of getting any French troops to help us in Iraq now. Meanwhile, thousands of supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo have been demonstrating in the main city of Abidjan against the peace deal reached with the rebels 10 days ago to end the civil war. There's one side that doesn't want a peace deal. The French deployment and the protest follow the United Nations Security Council's decision to give French and African troops in Ivory Coast a mandate to use force in order to protect civilians. Lucky for the French we didn't veto it. Nearly 200 extra gendarmes were sent last week by France to protect its 16,000 nationals in Ivory Coast, primarily in the economic capital, Abidjan. And by the end of this week, France will have more than 3,000 troops there. I'm waiting for them to turn the Charles De Gaulle around. "Given what we've seen in the last few days in Abidjan, we have deemed the situation to be a volatile one," Colonel Christian Baptiste, a spokesman for the French armed forces, said. There have been demonstrations in Abidjan against the French-brokered peace and French nationals and interests have been attacked, prompting France to ask non-essential residents to leave. On Wednesday, thousands of protestors, many trade union members, demonstrated outside the French embassy in Abidjan, shouting their opposition to the pact which gives the rebels top posts in a unity government, the French news agency, AFP, reported. Can't imagine why these folks are so upset. Many waved the Ivorian flag or sported it on small conical hats. Protesters sang reggae songs and shouted anti-French slogans, such as "Chirac assassin!". Any American flags? The Security Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to back the French and West African troops' deployment with a review of the situation in six months' time. Rebels in the divided West African state reportedly launched the first attacks on Tuesday since signing a ceasefire with the Ivorian Government in France on 24 January. Usual results. Get a UNSC resolution, and the ceasefire collapses. A rebel leader told the BBC that they would not give up the defence and interior ministry posts in a new power-sharing government which were reportedly promised them in France. And we all know what a promise from France is worth! The UN called for the full and immediate implementation of the peace agreement. That worked well. Mr Gbagbo has still not explained the deal to the nation, as he had promised. When the protests began, he trying to calm his supporters by calling the deal "proposals". He made a bad deal and now is back-pedaling to avoid being Mussolini'd. |
| Posted by:Steve White |