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United States Embassy (Abidjan)

Côte d'Ivoire: American Embassy's National Daily Press Review

23 August 2007

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This daily press review is compiled by the Information Section of the Public Affairs Office of the American Embassy in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

1. The mood in the various military barracks makes its mark again in today's newspapers as the Ivorian Army Chief of Staff is meeting with soldiers to resolve the crisis between the military and the government. Section of the Ivoirian papers also comment on the identification process, while others criticize the clean up of the toxic waste underway in Abidjan.

2. With a picture of a swollen-face woman on the front-page, Fraternite Matin, a state-owned daily, tells readers that, "The clean up exercise aimed at removing toxic waste in Abidjan and its surroundings runs into difficulties."

3. A two-page feature story carried by the paper describes a protocol of agreement signed between the Ivorian authorities and officials of Trafigura, the Dutch-based company that chartered the vessel which dumped the waste in Abidjan as "a complex deal."

4. Fraternite Matin writes: "The deal concluded on February 13, 2007 turns to be a bitter pill to swallow. The business was not well handled due to cumbersome bureaucracy. People who got sick as a result of the toxic waste couldn't find their names on the list of those who are entitled to receive compensation." Meanwhile, "People in Djibi -- a village located in the suburb of Abidjan -- are crying fool, as they feel abandoned," reports the paper.

5. As preparation of the upcoming presidential election is underway, L'inter explains why "the identification scheme - due to begin next September - has triggered much interest in each political arena."

6. The program, comments the privately-owned daily, should help sort out, among other things, issues of "who in Cote d'Ivoire is a citizen, and who has the right to vote."

7. "The question of who is an Ivoirian was the main cause of the current crisis," suggests the paper. It adds, "Beyond a simple process to issuing identity documents to Ivoirians, the identification process is a big challenge for the Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, leader of the New Forces."

8. Still on the identification process, Le Nouveau Reveil, a daily close to the former ruling PDCI-RDA, publishes a message from ex-President Henri Konan Bedie calling on all Ivoirians "to fully take part in the exercise." The motive behind the call, comments the paper, is to enable "all Ivoirians to register for the upcoming elections."

9. Nord-Sud Quotidien informs readers that the leader of the opposition RDR party, Alassane Dramane Ouattara, is expected in Paris next Saturday to unveil his "strategy to take power in Cote d'Ivoire." According to the paper, close to the opposition, "The RHDP - an opposition coalition wants the identification process to be completed before the establishment of any voter register."

10. "Stop terrorizing our militants," says a banner headline in Notre Voie, a daily close to ruling FPI, quoting the president of the party. Affi N'Guessan, reports the paper, denounced "the persecution of FPI's militants by opposition supporters during his recent visit to Daoukro in central Cote d'Ivoire - a region believed to be PDCI-RDA's stronghold."

11. "We're manipulated," Le Courrier d'Abidjan, a daily close to Gbagbo, quotes soldiers as telling the Ivoirian chief of defense, when Major General Philippe Mangou visited the military barracks in an attempt "to bring down tension" prompted by the ranks and war allowances issue.

12. Le Patriote, a daily close to the RDR party, explains "how the current regime has politicized the army."

13. Almost six months after the signing of the Ouagadougou Agreement designed to end a five-year crisis in this West African country, Soir Info suggests that the peace process, once again, "hangs in the balance as Cote d'Ivoire has gone back to square one."

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