[article] Clashes with French Military in Ivory Coast

mike65

Government warplanes attacked French troops in rebel-held northern Ivory Coast on Saturday, killing nine of them and an American relief worker, and sparking a dangerous escalation of violence in the West African country.

The French, former colonial rulers who are helping enforce a 2003 truce that ended a civil war in Ivory Coast, struck back by attacking government aircraft on the ground. Enraged mobs roamed the streets of Abidjan, the country's main city, searching for French civilians. French schools in Abidjan and the capital, Yamoussoukro, were burned. Some civilians had to be evacuated by helicopter.

Protesters armed with machetes, axes and other weapons also tried to storm a French military base. French forces fired shots in the air and tear gas to control the mob.

French President Jacques Chirac ordered more soldiers and warplanes to the area, and in New York, the U.N. Security Council demanded an immediate end to all military action. It said that peacekeepers -- 4,000 French troops and a separate international force of about 6,000 -- were authorized to use "all necessary means" to carry out their mandate.

As night fell, there were reports of heavy explosions in the capital city, where both French and Ivorian soldiers are based.

Ivory Coast was one of the region's success stories until a coup in 1999 and civil war, which erupted in 2000 after a disputed presidential election. Under international pressure, a truce was signed in May 2003 that divided the country into rebel and government-controlled zones. Peacekeepers were deployed, but little was done to consolidate the peace. A power-sharing government failed to take hold.

The two sides began sliding back toward war after they missed an Oct. 15 deadline to disarm. The rebels, known as the New Forces, withdrew from a government of national unity last week.

Government forces have attacked rebel forces in northern Ivory Coast in the past three days, breaking a cease-fire signed in May last year, and vowing to retake the northern part of the country. The African Union strongly condemned the attacks. The U.N. estimated that 22 people were killed on Friday, including 20 civilians.

France is unpopular, particularly among government supporters, for its role in pressing the government to sign the truce and for its current peacekeeping role. The attack that killed the French peacekeepers occurred near Bouake in central Ivory Coast.

French officials said about 20 soldiers who had been wounded in the air attack had been evacuated. The dead American was not immediately identified. The U.S. Embassy warned American citizens throughout the country to stay indoors.

Chirac ordered two extra companies, 300 troops, to reinforce French contingent on the ground in Ivory Coast. Three French Mirage warplanes based in Chad were ordered to Gabon, closer to Ivory Coast.

French troops also clashed with government forces at the Abidjan airport after Ivory Coast forces reportedly tried to attack French aircraft.

As mobs rampaged, a spokesman for Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo called for restraint and urged citizens not to attack French or international citizens, or to destroy their property.

"Pending an investigation into these incidents, the president of the republic has asked that all Ivorian men and women, even if they are angry about what happened, do not attack foreign goods and businesses, and in particular that nobody attack French interests," presidential spokesman Desire Tagro said.

Military and government officials were quoted by the Associated Press and Reuters news agencies as saying the attack on the French base in northern Ivory Coast was an accident, actually aimed at nearby rebels.

The French air attack destroyed two Sukhoi 25 warplanes and a MI 24 helicopter on the ground at Yamoussoukro.

French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie warned that the French government held Gbagbo personally responsible for maintaining order in his country. Foreign Minister Michel Barnier demanded firm action from Gbagbo, saying he should "clearly assume his responsibilities and the role that is his to return the country to calm, especially in Abidjan."

"We must immediately return to the path of peace," he said.

Now we know why the French would'nt commit troops to Iraq...;)

Mike.

mike65

Guardian

France and UN begin Ivory Coast evacuation

Agencies
Wednesday November 10, 2004

France and the UN today began evacuating thousands of French and other expatriates trapped at UN offices and a French military base amid days of anti-foreigner rampages in Ivory Coast.

France is expected to fly out between 4,000 and 8,000 of its citizens from across Ivory Coast - potentially the majority of the 14,000 French still in the former colony, a French official said.

"It is on a voluntary basis. We are not going to evacuate all our French citizens because they are too many," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We are evaluating the number of those wanting to leave and we have between 4,000 to 8,000 French who have expressed a wish to leave whether temporarily or for good."

Evacuations began this morning with a convoy of 40 UN personnel, said UN spokesman Philippe Mathieu. The 40 were among more than 1,000 expatriates who have sheltered in a UN headquarters amid four days of looting and attacks, Mr Mathieu said.

More than 1,600 other foreigners who have taken refuge in a French military base in Abidjan are to be flown out. They included 985 French and citizens of 42 other countries, a French official said.

Violence erupted last week in Ivory Coast when the government broke a ceasefire agreement by bombing rebels in the north of the country. On Saturday, Ivory Coast warplanes killed nine French peacekeepers and an American aid worker in an airstrike on the rebel-held north.

France retaliated by destroying the nation's tiny airforce on the tarmac, which in turn sparked a violent anti-French uprising of looting, burning and attacks by loyalist youths. The turmoil has claimed at least 27 lives and wounded more than 900, with no deaths reported among expatriates.


Heavily armed French forces with three armoured vehicles manned a roadblock on the way to Ivory Coast's international airport, which is controlled by the French military. It was reopening today for what were expected to be days of flights out. Abandoned roadblocks of burned tires and vehicles lined the route to the airport.

Mr Mathieu, speaking to the Associated Press by telephone as he rode in the UN convoy, ended the interview abruptly, saying he was passing through a crowd of loyalist youth.

Three Boeings with space for 250 people each would run what were expected to be days of shuttles to Paris and to Dakar, Senegal, French officials said. At least two other countries, Spain and Belgium, sent military planes that were on standby in the region today if needed to evacuate their nationals.

As the evacuations began, the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, invited representatives of Ivory Coast's warring sides to peace talks there meant to end the violence. No date has been set, but the meeting is expected "soon," spokesman Bheki Khumalo said.

However, rebels immediately raised the stakes by demanding the departure of the president, Laurent Gbagbo, before taking part in negotiations.

Rebel spokesman Sidiki Konate said the rebels would only attend the Pretoria talks on condition that Mr Gbagbo was not there.

"We can't go and hold discussions with a criminal, with someone who represents nothing anymore in the eyes of Ivorians. Any negotiations have to be based on a transition without Gbagbo," Mr Konate said by phone from Bouake, a rebel stronghold.

South African foreign minister, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, said central to restoring peace was resolving a dispute over the citizenship of millions of Ivorians with origins in neighbouring countries.

He said: "At the centre of the conflict is ... (a question) of citizenship. There are people who feel they are Ivorians but are being denied. I think that until that question of Ivority (Ivorian citizenship) is settled, there will be a conflict there."

One of the main factors in the country's periodic violence is whether opposition leader Alassane Ouattara, whose support is mainly among northern Muslims, should be eligible to run for president given his family links to neighbouring Burkina Faso. He was barred from standing against Mr Gbagbo in the presidential poll in 2000.

Ivory Coast has been divided between rebel north and loyalist south since civil war broke out in September 2002. France and the UN have more than 10,000 peacekeepers in the country, trying to maintain a 2003 ceasefire broken on Thursday by the government airstrikes on rebel territory.

I wonder would this thread have taken off if it mentioned Americans...?

Mike.

daveirl

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Hobbes

I notice in the news it is causing a world-wide choccy shortage.

daveirl

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bonkey

mike65 wrote:

I wonder would this thread have taken off if it mentioned Americans...?

Probably.

I'm still trying to learn a bit more about it myself.

jc

claidheamh

Differences between the Ivory Coast(France) and Iraq(US):

After numerous attempts to bring two parties together, France went to UN. France received UN approval for its actions, before moving forward...and I might add, to get UN approval on such requires US backing.
UN/US back French in Ivory Coast
Another link

Then US gets mad, since France won't help with spreading "the War on Terror."
here

Then US throws its support back in.
here

So, America does have a hand in this; However, the decision of France to continue has much more international support- than...oh let's say Iraq for instance.