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 Home > News > World News > Article
Thousands March Again to Denounce Ivorian Accord
Wed February 5, 2003 06:15 AM ET
By Alain Amontchi

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Thousands of workers marched in Abidjan Wednesday in the latest protest against a peace deal for Ivory Coast, but rebels threatened an offensive if President Laurent Gbagbo did not apply it soon.

The U.N. Security Council endorsed the treaty Tuesday, adding its voice to those of former colonial power France, the United States and African Union in calling for the deal to be implemented to end the war in the world's top cocoa grower.

The West African country is waiting anxiously for Gbagbo's own statement on how far he will go in applying an accord he has backed away from. His supporters say the French-brokered deal gives far too much to rebels holding half the country.

Presidency officials said Gbagbo was expected to speak this week, but it was not yet clear on which day.

Wednesday marked the 12th day of protests against the accord in Abidjan, where anti-French riots erupted as soon as details leaked that the rebels were to take defense and interior ministries in a coalition government.

Marchers set off peacefully for the French embassy in a mass of orange, white and green national colors.

"Ivory Coast for the Ivorians. We are xenophobes and so what," they sang cheerfully.

Protests on both sides of Ivory Coast's front line have shown up the division at the heart of the war -- between the largely Christian south and the mostly Muslim north, which has been in rebel hands since a failed mid-September coup.

REBEL THREAT Rebels at their headquarters of Bouake, 220 miles north of Abidjan, said they were organizing a meeting of all factions Thursday when they would agree on how long to give Gbagbo to implement the accord.

"Either the international community can bring Gbagbo to respect the accord or its forces must quit the front line and let us advance to Abidjan," said Guillaume Soro of the biggest rebel group, the Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast.

France has boosted its force in Ivory Coast to more than 2,500 to protect its citizens and to help stop the country collapsing. A 1,200-strong West African truce-monitoring force has also started to deploy to the front line.

Fighting left hundreds of people dead and drove more than a million from their homes in the once-stable country of 16 million before truces by three rebel factions allowed last month's negotiations near Paris.

"The longer this goes on, the more complicated things are getting for Gbagbo. Now we want to squeeze him like an orange," said rebel commander Cherif Ousmane in Bouake.

The army said fighting flared briefly in cocoa-growing western Ivory Coast Monday, but French truce monitors said there did not appear to have been a major disturbance.

The United Nations Security Council called on all political factions in Ivory Coast late Tuesday to implement the peace accord "fully and without delay."

A resolution approved unanimously by the 15-nation council authorized French troops and West African peacekeepers to ensure the protection of civilians for an initial six-month period.

(Additional reporting by Silvia Aloisi in Bouake)

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