Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Abidjan (Fides Service)-“Violence in the north west of Ivory Coast will not stop the peace process between government and rebels” local Church sources in Abidjan told Fides Service. “Sad to say these episodes come as no surprise because that area is very turbulent and escapes all control of the peace keeping troops sent by France and the countries of the West African Economic Community. These are in any case episodes of banditry more than guerrilla warfare” the local sources told Fides.
In the past two weeks 18 people have been murdered with machete and rifle gunfire in villages around the city of Bangolo, 600 km north west of Abidjan. The victims were mainly immigrants from Burkina Faso and Guinea working in cocoa plantations. The French contingent has asked the Ivorian army to send more troops to reinforce control in the area.
The juridical status of immigrant and of Ivorians of foreign descent is the subject of present political talks to solve the national crisis. “The meeting between President Laurent Gbagbo and rebel leader Guillaume Soro was said by both sides to be positive. The path for complete national pacification is however still long. The situation is still difficult and care must be taken to prevent hotheads on either side from provoking incidents which will derail the peace process”.
“The important thing is to return to politics and lay down all weapons” local sources told Fides. “The rebel leader, Soro, will almost certainly be a candidate for presidential elections in 2005, although there is growing consensus to postpone the vote, given the difficulty of organising elections in such a short time. The country is in fact divided in two – a rebel controlled are and a government controlled zone – and still has to recover from two years of civil war.”
“One most urgent problems to solve is the disarmament and reintegration into civil life of rebel troops ” local sources told Fides. “This concerns between 40,000 and 60,000 men, mostly very young whose only trade is warfare. Funds must be found to give them instruction and a chance to find an honest job. These men in fact for the past two years have been accustomed to living off what they took from people at road blocks. ”.
“There is a concrete risk of guerrilla troops turning bandits ” a missionary working in the rebel controlled area told Fides. “A recent second attempt to rob the West Africa Economic Community Bank in Bouake (second largest city, and in the hands of the rebels) is only one example of progressive slipping of guerrillas to criminality. Moreover, the local economy is experiencing a dramatic crisis because of the war. Harvested cotton for example never reaches to market because of high transport costs. In fact before reaching the ports the goods have to pass through numerous road blocks and pay a toll at each one to militiamen. (L.M.) (Fides Service 14/1/2004 lines 43 words 540)
