Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Abidjan (Fides Service)- “We have reached a dramatic unprecedented impasse. This is a crucial moment for Ivory Coast ” a local Church source in Abidjan, economic capital of Ivory Coast told Fides. The Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and Opposition are locked in a battle after March 25 clashes in which people were killed and injured when police clamped down on a protest demonstration. The demonstration was organised by the 7 opposition parties which walked out of the interim government accusing the President of failing to respect points of the peace agreement reached in France in January 2003 to put an end to civil war which started in 2002. The country is divided in two with the north and west controlled by the New Forces, comprising three groups of rebels which started the civil war.
“The Opposition had announced another demonstration for Monday 29 but no one showed up ” local sources told Fides. “Today the parties which oppose the President are meeting to draft a series of joint requests in a bid to resume dialogue. Let’s hope this is the first step to solving the impasse”.
Today the United Nations Security Council is meeting to discuss in the light of recent events the deployment of a UN peacekeeping which should begin on 4 April. The task of the UN is to monitor the disarmament of rebel troops in the north and help the country start the electoral process which will culminate with elections in 2005.
“There is a tendency to internationalise the crisis with increasing involvement of the UN UN” the local source told Fides. “This has its positive aspect but some might be tempted to have recourse to international pressure to push the President to resign. Some saw the March 25 events as an attempt by the Opposition to lead the President to make a false move putting him in a bad light in the eyes of the international community precisely on the eve of the deployment of the UN peacekeepers. Let’s hope that the arrival of the UN mission will improve the situation”. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 31/3/2004, righe 30 parole 385)
