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Abidjan (AFP) Dec 17, 2010 The military forces backing isolated Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo accused UN peacekeepers Friday of backing rebel fighters and said they no longer considered them a neutral force. The army's claim came after United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said letting Gbagbo stay on as president would be a "mockery of democracy" and warned against any attack on UN troops in Ivory Coast. "The Defence and Security Forces of the Ivory Coast call on the national and international community to bear witness to the fact that ONUCI no longer plays the role of a neutral force," spokesman Colonel Babri Gohourou said. In a statement from the general staff, read on state media, he accused United Nations Mission in Ivory Coast (ONUCI), of smuggling rebel fighters across a 2003 ceasefire line and supplying them with arms and ammunition. Both Gbagbo and his long-time rival Alassane Ouattara claimed victory in Ivory Coast's presidential last month. Ouattara was recognised as president by the United Nations, but Gbagbo remains determined to cling on to power. Ouattara's government is now based in a luxury resort, the Golf Hotel, in suburban Abidjan, protected by former rebel fighters from the New Forces and 800 UN "blue helmet" peacekeeping troops equipped with armoured cars. The hotel is surrounded by pro-Gbagbo troops and armed police. On Thursday, New Forces rebels attempted to break out and march towards state television. A gun battle erupted, and the former rebels were forced to retreat. The UN has denied supporting the New Forces, but has recognised Ouattara's government and is protecting the Golf Hotel, where armed former rebels work as would-be prime minister Guillaume Soro's security detail. "Let me say clearly and directly: any attempt to obstruct UN operations or blockade the Golf Hotel is totally unacceptable," Ban said Friday. Ban said UN peacekeepers would "protect the civilian population and... protect the safety and security of key government officials including Mr Ouattara and other key election commission officials." Both sides in Ivory Coast's stand-off have made extreme claims. Gbagbo's supporters accuse the United Nations and Ivory Coast's former colonial power France of plotting genocide, and the New Forces say the government has recruited brutal Liberian mercenaries.
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Frontline Ivory Coast town fears new civil warBouake, Ivory Coast (AFP) Dec 17, 2010 In the frontline base town of Ivory Coast's former northern rebellion on Friday, worrying tales of killings in the south revived fears of a return to civil war. Bouake is headquarters of the New Forces, the former rebel movement that was drawn into a power-sharing peace deal but now finds itself backing a president who has been unable to persuade his defeated rival to step down. Under el ... read more |
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