Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Abidjan (Fides Service)- “This is an interval not a crisis” local Church sources in Abidjan assure Fides with regard to the abrupt curtailing of a national unity government cabinet meeting. The meeting was scheduled to last three days but ministers representing the New Forces rebels decided to withdraw. The cabinet meeting was important because at last the six ministers representing the New Forces rebel group, which took control of north and west Ivory Coast in September 2002, decided to take part ending a three month protest against President Laurent Gbagbo whom they accused of wanting to side step parts of a peace agreement reached last year (see Fides 7 January 2004).
The national unity government led by prime minister Seydou Diarra was installed after the agreement signed last January in France which brought an end to hostilities between government and rebels started in September 2002.
“The New Forces want time to examine the points on the Cabinet’s agenda. These include delicate matters regarding granting of citizenship to non nationals, a matter raised by the rebels during the civil war” local sources told Fides.
In Ivory Coast at least one million immigrants or descendants of immigrants have been waiting for years for their situation to be regulated. In fact in Ivory Coast people without citizenship are penalised with regard to rights including possession of land. “Bureaucratic difficulties need to be overcome. Civil registers have not always been kept with due care and the lives of hundreds if not millions of people must now be reconstructed. What is more, many civic archives were destroyed during the civil war making identification of persons impossible. It may be necessary to hold a censure” local sources told Fides
Civil war exploded in Ivory Coast following an unsuccessful coup and the north and west of the country was taken by several guerrilla movements led by former army soldiers demanding reintegration into the national army. (L.M.) (Fides Service 9/1/2004 lines 33 words 404)
