allAfrica.com

January 26, 2003
Posted to the web January 26, 2003

Ofeibea Quist-Arcton
Johannesburg

Cote d'Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo appealed for calm, Sunday, as
rampaging mobs attacked French targets in the main city, Abidjan, in an
explosion of fury over perceived pressure by Paris to force Gbagbo to sign a
peace deal, which his supporters say favours the rebels.

The troubles started on Saturday after Gbagbo named former diplomat Seydou
Diarra as his country's new consensus prime minister, with the job of
heading an inclusive national unity reconciliation government.

To the consternation and outrage of his supporters back home, under the new
agreement, significant presidential powers would shift from Gbagbo to the
new prime minister, leading to a significant reduction in his authority.

The main rebel Popular Movement of Cote d'Ivoire (MPCI), who staged a failed
coup on September 19, said in Paris, Saturday, that they were to be given
the key defence and interior ministerial portfolios, sparking angry reaction
in government-held Abidjan, the southern metropolis and commercial capital
of Cote d'Ivoire.

Any such development would be deemed totally unacceptable by many in
Gbagbo's southern stronghold, who feel the government should not have opened
peace talks with the rebels in the first place, let alone agreed to what
they consider excessive concessions to the insurgents. The rebels control
the north of Cote d'Ivoire and parts of the west.

The rebels have long accused Gbagbo of discriminating against sections of
the population and marginalising the north. Until the Paris talks, they had
demanded his resignation. A senior African government official said their
aim in the peace negotiation was to render Gbagbo powerless "like the queen
of England," namely a constitutional head of state who did not exercise
effective power.

But the Ivorian leader, himself a long-time opposition stalwart before he
became president, is a tenacious and determined politician.

Gbagbo's goal in the talks was to ensure that the rebels disarm and the
agreement does stipulate that the rebels must lay down their weapons. They
are also to be offered an amnesty. In that sense, he has fully accomplished
his key demand, whereas since Gbagbo continues in office, the rebels have
been forced to compromise on theirs.

Rioters target France

Youths attacked French targets in Abidjan, including the embassy and the
military base. Reports Sunday said French soldiers fired stun grenades to
disperse protestors outside the embassy building in downtown Abidjan.

Latest reports said tens of thousands of Gbagbo supporters had taken to the
streets, accusing the French of imposing the peace package on Cote d'Ivoire,
its former colony. A French secondary school in Abidjan was also reportedly
ransacked, while cars suspected of transporting French nationals were also
targetted.

"I ask all Ivorians to stay calm and go back home and wait for me to come
and speak to them. A crisis that lasts four months brings a heavy toll. So
to get out of it, mutual concessions are necessary and I have made them,"
said Gbagbo, speaking from Paris where he was attending a two-day African
presidential summit, hosted by the French.

Paris helped to broker a peace deal during a nine-day round table conference
including government representatives and delegations from the main Ivorian
political parties, as well as the rebels.

It was unclear whether the latest Abidjan protests were entirely spontaneous
or government-sponsored, as earlier demonstrations in areas still under
troops loyal to the government appear to have been.

African leaders have been generally supportive of the peace accord agreed
early on Friday after the marathon negotiations outside Paris. The current
chairman of the African Union (AU), South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki
told the BBC: "It was a good result and we hope it will mean peace."

Cote d'Ivoire's western neighbour Liberia was represented at the summit by
President Charles Taylor. He declared himself "very pleased". Ghanaian
President John Agyekum Kufuor, from across the eastern border, said: "It's
all very positive and has everyone's support."

Gbagbo himself announced that the coalition administration would soon be
announced and would have "two essential objectives: to lift Cote d'Ivoire
out of war and to bring back prosperity."

The world's top cocoa producer, Cote d'Ivoire was once an island of
stability and a regional magnet for people from all over West Africa, the
jewel in the crown of an otherwise increasingly turbulent zone.

After the deal was drawn up, reports indicated that Gbagbo appeared
reluctant to accept it, perhaps sensing that his followers would refuse to
give it their blessing. The Ivorian leader is highly aware of popular
sentiment among his supporters, who helped him sweep to power in what was
hailed as a people's revolution in 2000, after disputed elections which the
then military leader, Robert Guei, tried to steal.

Guei's manipulation aside, the controversial poll excluded Cote d'Ivoire's
main opposition leader, Alassane Ouattara, on the grounds of nationality,
leading to another explosion of violence and clashes between Ouattara's and
Gbagbo's supporters. Several hundred people were killed.

Since the war broke out last September, several hundred more people have
lost their lives in Cote d'Ivoire, now a divided nation wracked by ethnic
and political tensions. The United Nations says up to one million people
have been displaced.

The peace plan and new consensus government are intended to pave the way for
new elections in Cote d'Ivoire, though the next scheduled poll is only in
2005. The deal also called for the creation of an international surveillance
team to ensure that the accord is implemented and respected.







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