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| East/Subsaharan Africa |
| France risks Ivory Coast anarchy trap |
| 2002-12-17 |
| "A taste for the unexpected" -- so runs a motto of the French Foreign Legion paratroopers rushed into Ivory Coast with orders from Paris to shoot anyone breaking a shaky ceasefire. Their appetite might well be satisfied. For while the last thing France wants is a swashbuckling "Beau Geste" adventure in its ex-colony, analysts warn its biggest intervention in Africa for nearly two decades could easily spiral into anarchy. "It has put its finger in a trap and got caught," Bernard Conte, an Africa expert at Bordeaux University, said of the French mission."By choosing what side it is on, Paris is taking a huge risk," warned Le Figaro daily in an editorial, saying the new troop deployments made clear France's support for Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo and so risked involving it directly in the fight against rebels. Once dubbed the "gendarme of Africa" for post-colonial sorties under presidents from Charles de Gaulle to Francois Mitterrand, France has taken a back seat on the continent since a 1994 intervention in Rwanda that failed to halt genocide. The Rwanda experience was hailed by some as the end of "French Africa", the era during which Paris would flex its muscle with missions such as in Chad, another ex-colony where it deployed 3,000 troops in 1983 to fight Libyan-backed forces. But with 20,000 nationals and major commercial interests in Ivory Coast, Paris felt obliged to act after the country split in two following a failed coup attempt in September. France gradually massed a force of some 1,500 soldiers on the ground with a specific mandate to monitor a fragile ceasefire agreed in October. The arrival Saturday of a company of the Second Foreign Parachute Regiment with upgraded orders to shoot anyone violating the ceasefire upped the stakes, changing the mission from one of monitoring to enforcement. French Foreign Legion Paratroopers with shoot to kill orders. No wonder the rebels are shitting their pants. The move enraged rebel leaders who accused Paris of blatantly favouring government forces and threatened to fight French soldiers they said were "a true force of occupation". Some observers point to calls by President Jacques Chirac, backed by conservative government allies since June elections, for France to have more say in Africa as proof that Paris was keen to start dabbling in Africa again. But Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin rejected such accusations, insisting in a newspaper interview published on Monday that France's role would remain limited. "This is not about getting cosy with Ivory Coast or getting a foothold in the region," Villepin told La Croix daily. "Our soldiers are simply there to ensure the ceasefire is respected...If we decided suddenly to pull out French troops, wouldn't there be a risk Ivory Coast would burst into flames?" Villepin said Paris saw protecting its nationals there as a priority, but insisted it was open to international support and had raised the matter with Washington and in the European Union. So far, there has been little sign of anyone coming forward to help France in what could be a messy and unrewarding engagement -- not least because its army is still suffering a lack of resources after years of military spending cuts. Don't expect a lot of help from your euro friends. France repeated on Monday its readiness to host a summit of African leaders in Paris to end the war, together with a separate meeting bringing together domestic Ivorian forces. Yet already even supporters of Chirac are wondering whether France has bitten off more than it can chew. "Should France really be taking on the burden alone?" asked Le Figaro, suggesting it could soon be time to involve the United Nations. Oh, thats going to help a lot. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #3 Why, how multilateral of them. Sticking to such fine points of internatinal law and U.N. oversight. Wherever would we be if not for the French to keep us on the straight and narrow? |
| Posted by: Tripartite 2002-12-17 23:52:56 |
| #2 Well, that ended up being an HTML oddity, didn't it? |
| Posted by: Chuck 2002-12-17 15:52:58 |
| #1 "This is not about getting cosy with Ivory Coast or getting a foothold in the region," Villepin told La Croix daily. "Our soldiers are simply there to ensure the ceasefire is respected...If we decided suddenly to pull out French troops, wouldn't there be a risk Ivory Coast would burst into flames?" Ah, the old spontaneous Ivory Coast combustion syndrome, seen it many times. |
| Posted by: "This is not about getting cosy with Ivory Coast o 2002-12-17 15:51:17 |