ABIDJAN, Nov 8 (AFP) - Ivory Coast rebels on Friday accused the government
of preparing for fresh fighting as the brother of an opposition politician
was found dead in Abidjan, casting a shadow over stumbling peace talks
between the rival sides.
As mediators tried to breathe life into the talks in the Togolese
capital Lome, rebel delegates retreated to mull the death of Benoit Dakoury-
Tabley, the brother of Louis Dakoury-Tabley, an Ivorian politician who
defected from the ruling party to join the rebels.
Benoit Dakoury-Tabley was found dead on the outskirts of Abidjan on
Friday afternoon after being taken from the clinic where he worked as a
doctor onWednesday.
Also on Wednesday, his brother defected from Ivorian President Laurent
Gbagbo's Patriotic Movement for Ivory Coast (MPCI) to join the rebels'
political wing.
Earlier Friday the rebels charged that Ivory Coast's army was moving
tanks towards Tiebissou, a town that lies around halfway between the rebel
stronghold of Bouake and the Ivorian administrative capital Yamoussoukro.
"They are T-55 tanks that (President Laurent) Gbagbo has sent to start
fighting, but we're ready," rebel spokesman Sergeant Cherif Ousmane told
journalists here.
"We're on the very brink of going back to war," Ousmane warned, adding
that government helicopters were also "currently being used in training" at
Bassam, 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of Abidjan, the west African
country's economic hub.
He accused Gbagbo of "getting ready to breach the ceasefire."
Several witnesses confirmed that two Mi-24 Russian-made combat
helicopters, new additions to beef up the government arsenal in Abidjan,
carried out a test flight at Bassam on Friday afternoon.
The Ivorian army, which received the helicopters in October, was less
well equipped when the rebels took up arms against the government on
September 19, quickly gaining control of virtually all of the mainly Muslim
north.
Government forces have retained power in the largely Christian south.
A ceasefire was signed in Bouake on October 17 in the presence of west
African mediators, but talks to resolve the conflict only got under way two
weeks later and have made little progress since then.
Defense Minister Bertin Kadet on Friday denied that the government had
done anything that could constitute a breach the ceasefire.
"We have carried out no attacks since the ceasefire," Kadet told AFP.
French troops deployed to monitor the truce in its former colony have so
far reported no breaches.
On Friday morning, Togo's President Gnassingbe Eyadema, the chief
mediator at the peace talks being held in the Togolese capital Lome,
reviewed a partial peace at the talks with other mediators.
The latest proposal aims to bridge the gap between the government and
rebels, with both sides holding steadfastly to their positions, refusing to
budge on demands they want fulfilled as pre-conditions to further talks.
The rebels want Gbagbo to resign and new elections to be held, while the
government wants the insurgents to disarm.
Eyadema had put the finishing touches on the proposed pact, along with
Mohamed Ibn Chambas, executive secretary of the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS) which organised the peace talks, and African Union
special envoy Miguel Trovoada.
Eyadema on Friday received both the rebel and government delegations to
present them with the proposals, but they left his office in the afternoon
without any word on the prospects for an accord or whether the negotiations
would continue.
In the meanwhile a Ivorian former minister, Constance Yai, arrived in
the Togolese capital saying she would "do some lobbying to find a solution
to get us out of this crisis."
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