They seem to have learned a lot of military tactics from the french "Now go away or we shall taunt you a second time!"
Posted on 11/30/2003 2:57:02 PM PST by Shermy
ABIDJAN (AFP) - Armed men wearing army uniforms interrupted Ivory's Coast national TV to demand the resignation of the army chief and that French peacekeepers leave the troubled country within 48 hours.
The men, who said they were soldiers speaking on behalf of the west African state's entire armed forces, insisted that "this is not a coup d'etat."
They said they were responding to events in which scores of pro-government protestors and soldiers skirmished Saturday with French troops policing a demilitarized zone separating the south from the rebel-held north.
The announcement on national TV -- and a similar attempt reportedly at national radio in Abidjan -- came as President Laurent Gbagbo and army leaders flew by French helicopter to the area to try to restore calm.
It was the president's first trip to the front line in the Ivorian conflict since the September 2002 army rebellion that sparked a civil war that split the world's top cocoa producer.
Gbagbo later returned to the former French colony's main city Abidjan, military sources said.
"We were stopped by the French with the complicity of our chiefs," said the armed men's spokesman live on television, adding that French troops had injured several Ivorian soldiers and destroyed one of their armoured vehicles.
"Our army is humiliated," he said.
"We, the army of Ivory Coast, the entire army, the air force, the ground forces, the navy, the gendarmes, we demand that President Laurent Gbagbo tell these whites to clear the front lines," he said.
"We are ready to free our country," added the man, who wore the red beret of a junior officer.
He said that "if the whites do not leave within 48 hours, they will be responsible for what happens," without making clear whether the armed forces were threatening an attack on the French forces or on the rebels in the north.
The French armed forces headquarters in Paris dismissed the demands as "irresponsible and inopportune," saying there were no plans to redeploy its 4,000 peacekeepers.
"We regret such inopportune initiatives, which generate very heavy tension and could degenerate into violence," Colonel Christian Baptiste told AFP.
Alongside the French troops, 1,500 troops from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) About have been monitoring the ceasefire there.
A former model of stability and affluence for west Africa, Ivory Coast has been crippled by an economic and security crisis that has had major repercussions for the entire region.
A ceasefire has largely held since the war was declared officially over in July following a French-brokered peace accord in January.
In Saturday's incident at the front line, some 200 Gbagbo supporters and elements of the Ivorian army tried to cross into northern territory controlled by former rebels known as the New Forces since peace accords in January.
French and west African peacekeepers patrolling the "confidence zone" engaged them at the town of M'Bahiakro, with the backing of Ivorian authorities, military sources said.
The soldiers used tear gas and fired warning shots in the air to disperse the infiltrators, who backed down on Sunday afternoon but remained agitated, sources said, adding that no casualties were officially reported.
Rebel leaders meanwhile were meeting over the weekend to decide whether or not to rejoin the unity government set up to bring peace to the country and were due to announce their decision on Monday.
A unity government formed under the January peace pact has foundered since the former rebels quit in September amid accusations that Gbagbo was hoarding power by refusing to implement the deal.
Gbagbo said in a speech to the nation Thursday that all that was standing between the country and peace was the refusal to disarm by the rebels.
They seem to have learned a lot of military tactics from the french "Now go away or we shall taunt you a second time!"
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