SEGUELA, Ivory Coast, Dec 9 (AFP) - The commanders of the Ivory Coast
Patriotic Front (MPCI) make no effort to hide their men's desire to step up
the fight following the discovery of a mass grave and the breach of a
ceasefire on the country's western front.
"We are going to Man!", is a refrain AFP heard from rebel fighters on
the road between Seguela and Man, the main town in the west where the army
has for more than a week been fighting two smaller new rebel groups, the
Movement for Peace and Justice (MPJ) and the Ivorian Popular Movement of
the Far West (MPIGO).
The two groups took up arms some 10 days ago, deepening a crisis that
began when the MPCI rose up on September 19 and swiftly seized the
northern half of Ivory Coast.
At Bouake, the country's second city where the MPCI has set up its
headquarters, the rebels are training and boasting, confident that a big
battle is near.
Some are talking about taking San Pedro, the port city the MPJ and
MPIGO have set their sights on, while others are aiming for Daloa, Ivory
Coast's cocoa-growing capital.
"If it were not for the French, I would already be at Daloa. I can take
the town in two hours, said Sergeant Zacharias Kone, the MPCI commander at
nearby Vavoua where the rebels and the army clashed recently.
"We are not going to let the loyalists and the politicians string us
along, we have no faith in (Ivory Coast President Laurent) Gbagbo, who has
violated this ceasefire."
On November 28 French soldiers monitoring a ceasefire the rebels and
the army signed six weeks earlier, reported that loyalist troops and
mercenaries had launched an attack on Vavoua.
The rebels beat back the army, but a destroyed tank abandoned on the
road south of Vavoua bears testimony to the violence of the clashes.
At the village of Pelezi, which the rebels claim the army bombarded,
buildings have been left pockmarked by bullets and rockets which caused
panic-stricken residents to flee the town.
Some of those who stayed behind told AFP dozens of civilians were killed
in three air attacks on the town with combat helicopters.
By contrast the rebel commander in the area, Corporal Charles Bruno,
said only one of his men were seriously injurded.
"They bombarded us every day, but they never hit our positions, only
the civilians. Nowadays they are no longer attacking us because we have
installed an anti-aircraft gun."
On November 29 witnesses told AFP some 120 west African immigrants were
killed by "men in uniform" and dumped in a mass grave at at Monoko-Zohi,
about 60 kilometres (40 miles) southwest of Vavoua.
The discovery of a communal grave in the area by French troops has not
only enraged the MPCI's men but seen its leaders threaten to withdraw from
peace talks with the government that have been deadlocked almost since they
began on October 30.
The rebels' chief negotiator at the talks, Guillaume Soro told
AFP: "Our troops are on a state of full alert on all fronts, ready to
relaunch our offensive unless light is shed on the matter of the mass
grave."
"Our fight has become one against a genocidal regime. The international
community must choose between supporting Gbagbo's murderous regime or
encouraging the creation of a new political order," he said.
The Ivorian army said on Sunday that the MPCI has already attacked one
of their positions in eastern Ivory Coast and wounded at least two
soldiers, creating fear that a new front is opening up.
A young rebel at Vavoua armed with an Uzi machine gun was emphatic: "We
are always on the ready, we have since the start been ready to take them
out. It does not matter if this carries on for two years, we know what we
are fighting for."
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