United States Embassy (Abidjan)
29 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. News reports say that the Ivoirian President Laurent Gbagbo has proposed the suspension of the issuance of resident permits to foreigners living in Cote d'Ivoire. The presidential proposal, which was made over the weekend at a rally for reconciliation organized by the Burkinabe nationals living in this country, has received mixed reactions in today's Ivoirian press.
2. "Resident permit: Gbagbo proposes its suspension," says a banner headline in the state-owned daily Fraternite Matin. "The resident permit has never allowed the State to acquire money. However, it has resulted in frauds of the Ivoirian identity document," the paper quotes the president as saying that it is " not normal" that Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso fight over the resident permit.
3. The Ivoirian leader therefore advised foreigners living in his country to have the identity card of their own countries, reports Fraternite Matin. "Whether this paper is an Ivoirian one or a Burkinabe one, a Guinean one, a Malian one, a Ghanaian one, a Liberian one, please just has a paper. We're not going to harass you any longer for the resident permit. I'll make sure that this is suspended," Gbagbo is quoted as telling thousands of nationals of Burkina Faso who gathered yesterday in Yopougon - a suburb of Abidjan - to celebrate the Ouagadougou Agreement and reconciliation between Cote d'Ivoire and its neighbor.
4. Regarding the reconciliation between the two countries, Gbagbo said he is working with President Blaise Compaore - facilitator in the Ivoirian peace process - to find ways "to buttress" the cooperation among West African countries, especially between Abidjan and Ouagadougou, reports Fraternite Matin. Meanwhile, the spokesperson of the Burkinabe community in Cote d'Ivoire said: "We (Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso) have gone through a wave of turmoil. We are committed today to move towards peace because it has no price."
5. A front-page story in Le Front, a daily close to the New Forces, says that "The Burkinabe set the record straight, as they are tired of harassments, rackets, humiliations, and extortions." The paper quotes the spokesperson of the Burkinabe community in Cote d'Ivoire as saying: "Mr. President, it's true that the Ouagadougou Agreement has helped dissipate the atmosphere between Burkinabe and Ivoirians. Nevertheless, the Burkinabe continue suffering because of the resident permit." According to the paper, the Burkinabe also used the occasion to demand the president to help them return to their farms.
6. Le Nouveau Reveil, a daily close to the former ruling PDCI-RDA party, describes Gbagbo's proposal to suspend the resident permit as a "big jock."
7. Le Matin d'Abidjan, a daily close to Gbagbo, tells readers a different story. "Gbagbo rescinded the unpopular decisions of Alassane Dramane Ouattara," writes the paper, which believes that Gbagbo's decision has "ruined the political calculation of the leader of the opposition RDR party."
8. A front-page story in Nord-Sud Quotidien, a daily close to the opposition, says that the government has put in place new measures "to speed up the public identity hearings." These measures include a nationwide awareness campaign to inform people who do not have national identity documents to use the public identity hearings to have one.
9. Nord-Sud Quotidien also reports that the RTI - the state-owned Broadcasting Corporation - is "falling apart". In a two-page in-depth report, the paper says that the national television and radio networks are in dire strait because of "the huge salaries that are being paid to the management, in-fighting, and its biased editorial line."
10. In another development, Le Front says that 23 African religious leaders meeting in Abidjan reaffirmed their commitment to wage campaign against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Sources close to UNICEF say that "the situation of girls and women who are victims of FGM is of high-concern in Cote-d'Ivoire, where the prevalence rate is estimated at 44.5%, representing almost 1 out of 2 girls or women".
11. Finally, Le Patriote, a daily close to the opposition RDR party, suggests that the figure on Cote d'Ivoire petrol reserves provided by President Gbagbo was not "correct." Cote d'Ivoire's petrol production stands for "90,000 barrels a day and not 50,000 barrels a day, as Gbagbo said in a recent televised address," indicates the paper. According to the paper, "This figure was confirmed by the United Nations, West African States Central Bank, and the United States."
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