United States Embassy (Abidjan)
27 September 2007
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. Today marks the 13th anniversary of the creation of the Rally of the Republicans -- RDR, the party of the Ivoirian opposition leader, Alassane Dramane Ouattara. The celebration is a front-page story in today's Ivoirian papers. The speech of the Ivoirian leader Laurent Gbagbo at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he urged the world body to ease an arms embargo against his country and to lift sanctions against three political figures is the other major issue in today's Ivoirian newspapers.
2. A front-page story in Fraternite Matin, a state-owned daily, says Gbagbo, speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, pleaded for "international aid to support the peace process underway in Cote d'Ivoire." Gbagbo, reports the paper, also urged the United Nations General Assembly "to ease an arms embargo against his country and to lift sanctions against three political figures." The paper also publishes the full text of Gbagbo's speech.
3. Speaking also at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Cameroon President Paul Biya told Gbagbo: "Africa is proud of you," reports Fraternite Matin. With a picture of Gbagbo and his French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy on its front-page, the paper suggests that "the two leaders have opened a new chapter in the relations between Cote d'Ivoire and France."
4. A prominent story on the privately-owned daily L'inter says, "Gbagbo put four requests on the table of the United Nations." These include, "The lift of the arms embargo to allow the country to fulfill its mission to protect people and goods." Gbagbo also demanded the United Nations "to reduce its security troops in the country as peace was prevailing in the country since the signing of the Ouagadougou peace agreement, adding that the phase 3 no longer corresponds to the reality on the ground," reports the paper.
5. According to a front-page story in Nord-Sud Quotidien, a daily close to the opposition, "The heads of State stayed away from the meeting, when Gbagbo was addressing yesterday the United General Assembly, and this, for the first time."
6. A front-page story in Le Nouveau Reveil, a daily close to the former ruling PDCI-RDA party, says, "After defying and insulting the international community, Gbagbo knelt down before the United Nations General Assembly."
7. Notre Voie, a daily close to the ruling FPI party, says, "Gbagbo exhorted the United Nations to support efforts that are being deployed on the ground to resolve the Ivoirian crisis." According to the paper, "The Ivoirian leader is expected in Abidjan today".
8. A front-page story in Le Front, a daily close to the New Forces, says, "The Ivoirian opposition leader, Alassane Dramane Ouattara, is to remember his 'martyrs' today." According to the paper, the opposition leader is scheduled to address a rally today in Abobo - a suburb of Abidjan.
9. Explaining the motive behind this commemoration, Le Patriote, a daily close to the RDR party tells readers that, "During the past 13 years of struggle for democracy in Cote d'Ivoire, 3,500 supporters of the party of Ouattara died, while thousand disappeared."
10. "Thirteen years ago, Ouattara plunged the country into chaos," writes Le Temps, a daily close to Gbagbo. The paper alleges that, the opposition leader was "he brain behind "the December 1999 coup d'etat and the September 19 attack in Cote d'Ivoire."
11. In the perspective of the upcoming elections in Cote d'Ivoire, "The Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) is training its local officers," reports 24 Heures, a daily close to the opposition.
12. "The two-day workshop, which kicked off yesterday, focuses on the structure of the electoral commission and the role of the local officers to guaranteeing free and fair elections." The paper quotes Robert Beugre Mambe, the Chairman of the CEI, as telling participants, "You need to be competent and humble while on the ground."
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