source
BBC
Friday, 24 December, 1999, 15:27 GMT
Coup attempt in Ivory
Coast
Rebel soldiers have taken control of the streets of
Abidjan
Rebel soldiers in Ivory Coast have
attempted a military takeover - but it is
unclear whether they have succeeded.
The coup leader, former army chief
General Robert Guei, made a brief
television appearance to say President
Henri Konan Bedie was no longer
president.
An independent radio station later named
General Guei as his successor.
But President
Bedie told French
International Radio
that he had not
relinquished
power.
"I remain in my
post. This morning
I received a
delegation of
mutineers. I told
them that
solutions to their
demands could be
envisaged
provided it can be
done through
dialogue," said the
statement quoted
by the radio.
Reuters news
agency reported
that the president
had ordered
soldiers to fight the military staff
attempting a coup.
The agency quoted military sources and
Western diplomats, who said that
President Bedie was at a heavily-guarded
new residence in the heart of the
diplomatic quarter in Abidjan.
Automatic gunfire
Later diplomatic sources were reported as
saying that Mr. Bedie had been taken to
the residence of the French ambassador.
The BBC's Mark Doyle, in Abidjan, saids
automatic gunfire heard in the city could
be rebels shooting in the air, or the result
of clashes between rebels and
government troops.
"As from now, President Henri Konan
Bedie is no longer the president of the
republic," Gen. Guei said in a message
broadcast to the nation.
He also announced
measures including
the dissolution of
parliament,
government, the
constitutional council
and the supreme
court.
The rebels took
Abidjan Airport on
Friday. Sources said
the rebel soldiers arrived there in the early
hours of Friday morning and demanded
that all operations stop.
One airport worker said: "They are
shooting all over place." He said rebels
had stopped at least one international
flight from arriving.
The rebels also opened prison gates to
release political prisoners, allowing other
inmates to escape as well.
Checkpoints
Mutineers have taken control of key
bridges, and set up checkpoints.
They have looted much of the city,
causing panic among residents, but no
deaths have been reported.
A Military Committee of Public Salvation
called on looting to stop and said an
overnight curfew would be imposed.
It said the takeover of power had been
carried out to restore soldiers' dignity.
The soldiers' biggest complaint was
understood to relate to unpaid bonuses
from a UN peacekeeping operation in the
Central African Republic in 1996 and
1997.
Defence minister Bandama N'Gatta told
journalists that four mutineers had met
ministers and laid down nine demands.
Mr. N'Gatta said the
UN had not paid all
of what it owed
Ivory Coast after the
first mission, "and
we have not
received anything
under the second,
which started 10
months ago and
winds up in
February".
Lack of decent
housing and even shoes are among the
other grievances that have been reported.
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