United States Embassy (Abidjan)
26 October 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. The Ivoirian press is preoccupied by the slow pace of the peace process underway in Cote d'Ivoire. Some of the newspapers accuse the international community for this lingering situation, while others pin point weaknesses in the ongoing public identity hearings, a program designed to provide identity documents for the nationals of Cote d'Ivoire.
2. Exactly a month after the resumption of the public identity hearings, Le Front, a daily close to the New Forces, says that the result that has been obtained so far is "mixed". According to the paper, "Out of 12,304 requests that have been submitted to the judges conducting the exercise, 11,512 were accepted, and 794 were rejected." The paper suggests that, "Considering the number of people who do not have identity documents in the country, this result is below the expectation."
3. The paper also talks about the war of words between the ruling FPI party and the opposition groups over the number of people who should be registered as part of the public identity hearings. While the party of President Laurent Gbagbo is claiming that "the number of people to be identified must not exceed 300,000, the opposition's projections say they are about three million," the paper said. .
4. A banner headline in the Le Patriote, a daily close to the opposition RDR party, denounces the poor publicity on the public identity hearings, which it partly blames on the ruling FPI party. According to the paper, "FPI is using every means possible - including anti-fraud brigades - to undermine the process, because it fears that the identification process would serve as an opportunity for opposition parties - especially the RDR - to increase the number of their supporters and sympathizers on the voters' register."
5. Nord-Sud Quotidien, a daily close to the opposition, publishes an interview of Karamoko Yayoro, leader of the youth wing of the RDR party, explaining the motive behind the decision by the party of Alassane Dramane Ouattara to set up what it calls, "Watchdog committees to supervise the public identity hearings." The aim of the watchdog committees, Yayoro is quoted as explaining, is "to sensitize our supporters and particularly the populations on the importance of the public identity hearings, which are the unique occasion for those who do not have identity papers to have one."
6. In a front-page story, the state-owned daily, Fraternite Matin, assesses all the peace agreements and UN Resolutions that had been hammered out with the purpose of resolving the lingering political stalemate in Cote d'Ivoire. The paper describes these accords and Resolutions as "a five-year mess-up."
7. Fraternite Matin notes that during its last meeting in New York, the United Nations Security Council expressed its concerns over the delay of the peace process in Cote d'Ivoire and called upon President Gbagbo and the Prime Minister Guillaume Soro to speed up the application of the Ouagadougou Agreement that both had signed. However, the paper believes that the world body ignored "the contribution" that Cote d'Ivoire, the African Union, and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) asked it to provide in order "to push forward the peace process." This contribution, Fraternite Matin says, include: "The lift of individual sanctions imposed on Ivoirian figures and also the lift of the arms embargo to enable the country to ensuring public and security order."
8. In a related development, Fraternite Matin indicates that for the peace process to progress, the international community has to stick to its promises by disbursing the money needed to accomplish the Ouagadougou Agreement. According to the paper, the implementation of this accord will cost "198 billion Francs CFA". The Ivoirian government, writes the paper, will contribute "57.6 billion Francs CFA, against 43.3 billion Francs CFA that foreign donors promised to provide." The big question, the paper says, is "where to get the remaining 98 billion Francs CFA, which are needed to achieve the implementation of the Ouagadougou Agreement."
9. Soir Info, an independent daily, carries remarks from recent discussions on the Cote d'Ivoire in the Security Council. According to the paper, US Ambassador to the United Nations, Jackie Wolcott, remarked that "it is estimated that the public identity hearings do not cover the whole country. She therefore exhorted the Government of Cote d'Ivoire to accelerate this process." "She regretted the slow pace of the demobilization, and reintegration of the ex-combatants. She also added that her country condemned the attack against the plane carrying the Prime Minister Guillaume Soro on June 29, causing many victims. The perpetrators of this attack have to be brought to justice," reports Soir Info.
10. According to Soir Info, the US diplomat is also "preoccupied by Human Rights violations committed against civilians." However, indicates the paper, Wolcott said she is "encouraged by the new bill, which will establish an anti-trafficking program in cooperation with some ministries in the country and international organizations - including International Migration Organization."
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