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Ivorian youth leader calls off anti-UN protests. 20/01/2006. ABC News Online
[This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200601/s1551400.htm]
Last Update: Friday, January 20, 2006. 8:14am (AEDT)Ivorian youth leader calls off anti-UN protests
Ivory Coast's pro-government youth leader has called off anti-UN protests as the the Security Council studied possible sanctions to give teeth to a peace plan battered by riots aimed against peace keepers.
Protesters dispersed from outside the French embassy, where pro-government 'Young Patriot' leader Charles Ble Goude called off the action, and also eased elsewhere as UN and French army helicopters hovered above the main city Abidjan.
Peace keepers fired warning shots and tear gas at young protesters outside UN mission headquarters, which has seen some of the worst violence, but many dispersed as dusk fell.
"There are less of them now, there are about 300-400 people left, It seems to be clearing up a bit everywhere, there are no flash points at the moment," UN public information officer Captain Gilles Combarieu said.
The protesters, mainly young supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo, have demanded the withdrawal of UN and French troops from the West African country, divided since a civil war in 2002 between the rebel-held north and government-controlled south.
They denounced as meddling a call by international mediators to dissolve the pro-Gbagbo parliament.
Violence condemned
The UN Security Council has today adopted a tough statement condemning violent anti-UN protests in Ivory Coast and threatening sanctions against individuals blocking the UN-mandated peace process.
A statement read by Tanzania's UN envoy Augustine Mahiga, the council president for January, also "demands the immediate end of this violence and all hatred messages in the media, in particular the attacks against the United Nations."
The French-drafted statement "strongly condemns the recent violent attacks" against the 7,000-strong UN force (ONUCI) and international humanitarian agencies in Ivory Coast "by street militias and other groups associated with the (pro-Gbagbo) 'Young Patriots' as well as their instigators."
It expressed "deep concern at the violent and orchestrated street protests led by the Young Patriots, in particular in Abidjan and several cities in the West."
The text warned that "targeted measures will be imposed against persons who among other things block the implementation of the peace process, including by attacking or obstructing the action of UNOCI, the French forces, the high representative for the elections or of the IWG, or who incite publicly hatred and violence."
A diplomatic source said the text was meant to send a strong political message to those behind what the UN has called "orchestrated violence" against the UN in the former French west African colony, where 4,000 French troops are backing the UN peacekeeping force.
But he said it would not mean the immediate imposition of the targeted sanctions.
A list of targeted individuals would have to be reviewed by the council's sanctions committee.
Meanwhile UN chief Kofi Annan also called on Ivorians to put an immediate end to the violence and said the flare-up vindicated his call for a more than 50 percent increase of the strength of ONUCI.
Earlier today, US ambassador to the UN John Bolton made it clear that Washington would not back Annan's increase request.
US officials indicated that a broad inter-agency review of policy toward Ivory Coast was under way in Washington to look at possible alternatives to settle the political crisis in the world's top cocoa producer.
"It is very easy to say why don't you resolve politically rather than putting troops. It is very easy to criticise, but it's not that simple," Mr Annan said.
He ruled out a withdrawal of ONUCI following attacks on UN Bangladeshi troops in several Ivorian towns, saying this "would make the situation worse".
Ivory Coast, once one of Africa's most prosperous states, has been split since fighting broke out in 2002 between Mr Gbagbo's government and rebels who control the mostly Muslim north of the country.
-AFP
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