Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
1 August 2007
Bouake — The peace process in Ivory Coast got a major boost after president and prime minister set fire to stockpiled weapons on Monday to symbolise the end of the country's five-year conflict.
The 'flame of peace' was lit in the presence of nine African heads of state and government.
It was the first time President Laurent Gbagbo had gone to the former rebel-held north since 2002, when an uprising against him split the country. "People of Ivory Coast, the war is over," he said, according to the BBC.
"At the end of his speech, the former rebel and now Prime Minister Guillaume Soro invited everyone to get on their feet and pray in silence for a minute in favour of peace. This touched me very much", said Fr Dino Dussin, a missionary who spoke to the missionary news agency, MISNA, from Bouake.
Gbagbo signed a peace deal in March with ex-rebel leader Soro, who was later named prime minister. As part of the deal the pair agreed to hold elections, which have repeatedly been cancelled, by early 2008.
Soro said: "By setting fire to these guns which were the seeds of destruction, we are marking the end of the war."
"Everyone wants to celebrate in some way in this day of reconciliation: yesterday [Sunday], returning from Abidjan, I met some young people who were walking because they had missed one of the 200 buses made available by the government," said Fr Dussin.
Monday was declared a national holiday. Fr Dussin said "those not able to be in Bouaké are celebrating at home, with the family, eating chicken as is common here during holidays".
But serious doubts remain about the peace process. Last month rockets were fired at Soro's plane as it landed at Bouake's airport, in what he said was an assassination attempt.
On Sunday, riot police fired tear gas at supporters of Mr Gbagbo, known as the Young Patriots, who were protesting in the main city Abidjan at a shortage of coaches to take them to Bouake.
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