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United States Embassy (Abidjan)

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

3 October 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 ongoing public identity hearings - a program designed to issue birth certificates to residents without identity documents - is again a subject of front-page story in many Ivoirian daily newspapers. Meanwhile, a daily close to the former Ivoirian ruling PDCI-RDA party wonders whether, "The Constitution allows President Laurent Gbagbo to stay in power after October 30, 2007."

2. In a front-page story, Le Nouveau Reveil, a daily close to the former Ivoirian ruling PDCI-RDA party, notes that "the decision by the UN Security Council extending Gbagbo's term in office will end on October 30, 2007." "In exactly 27 days," continues the paper, "The UN Resolution 1721 will be null and void."

3. Le Nouveau Reveil asks: "Who will extend the mandate of Gbagbo after October 30, 2007?" Citing the Ivoirian Constitution, the paper suggests that, "As from November 1st, 2007, the interim president of the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire should be the Speaker of the National Assembly, Mamadou Koulibaly."

4. The security during the public identity hearings is the main concern of Fraternite Matin. A front-page story in the state-owned daily says, "The security and defense forces are threatening to boycott the program." According to the paper, "The deployment of the security forces, in connection with the public identity hearings, was delayed due to an allowance problem." "The security and defense forces want their allowance to be increased," reports the paper.

5. Meanwhile, "The security of the public identity hearings was atop the agenda of a meeting yesterday between Prime Minister, Soro Guillaume and the Ivoirian army chiefs," reports Fraternite Matin. The Ivoirian Defense Minister, Michel Amani, speaking after the meeting, was quoted as saying, "Security forces are committed to play their role to guaranteeing the success of the peace process."

6. In the same development, "The Prime Minister has instructed the security and defense forces to reduce the number of check-points in order to allow free movement of the people throughout the country," reports Fraternite Matin

7. On the front page of Notre Voie, a daily close to the ruling FPI party, Soro assures the ruling FPI party that, "There will be no fraud during the public identity hearings."

8. Meanwhile, 24 Heures, a daily close to the opposition, notes that, "Almost seven months after the signing of the Ouagadougou Agreement, the two parties continue to have divergent views on how the public identity hearings should be conducted."

9. Le Front, a daily close to the New Forces, alleges that "the ruling FPI has hammered out a plan aimed at derailing the Ouagadougou Agreement." In a related development, the paper says, "A reconstruction program, which include the reinsertion of the displaced people, will cost 40 billion Francs CFA."

10. While the Ivoirian authorities vows to crack down on "the illegal use of military uniforms in the country," a story in Nord-Sud Quotidien, a daily close to the opposition, blames "this situation on the Ivoirian army." According to the paper, "In the wake of the military crisis in Cote d'Ivoire... many militia groups were created in the southern part of the country, which was under the control government's forces."

11. "The security and defense forces to crack down on the militia groups," writes L'inter, a privately-owned daily.

12. Finally, Le Matin d'Abidjan, a daily close to Gbagbo, announces that "Sergeant Ibrahim Coulibaly - a former sergeant in the Ivoirian Army and a rival of the leader of the New Forces - was arrested in the neighboring Benin for illegal detention of weapons."

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