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


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United States Embassy (Abidjan)

15 January 2008
Posted to the web 15 January 2008

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 third meeting of the Evaluation and Support Committee [CEA] of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement, which took place in Ouagadougou yesterday, was the major subject in today's Ivorian press. Papers also critically looked at the recent visit of President Laurent Gbagbo to the eastern regions, where he spoke on the peace process underway in Cote d'Ivoire.

2. Fraternite Matin: The meeting of the Committee of Ivorian political stakeholders, designed to assess the peace process in this West African country, is a subject of a banner headline in the state-owned daily newspaper. "With six months to go to polls, Compaore [Burkina Faso President and also mediator in the Ivorian peace process] is trying to set the record straight," writes the paper. The paper carried the full text of the final communique released yesterday at the end of the day-long consultation chaired by President Compaore.

3. Excerpts of the Communique said: "Regarding the identification process, the Committee expressed satisfaction on the planned deployment of public hearings teams. On the electoral process, the Committee welcomed the new date set for elections by the third additional accord of 28 November, as well as the appointment of a technical operator to carry out identification and registration on the electoral register. The mediator expressed the wish that the UN would collaborate with the government to set the parameters and adopt the procedure for the certification of the electoral process. On security issues, the mediator called on the UN to revise the security index enforced in Cote d'Ivoire. In a bid to ensuring a peaceful presidential election, he [the mediator] appealed to the signatories to the Ouagadougou Political Agreement, to the entire Ivorian political class and to the national and international press to strictly abide by the code of good conduct contained in the accord."

4. The Ivorian Prime Minister, Guillaume Soro, speaking at the Ouagadougou meeting, was quoted by Fraternite Matin as saying: "We acknowledge that much progress has been made, but now we enter a delicate and important phase with the elections."

5. Still on recommendations made during the Ouagadougou meeting, L'inter (a privately-owned daily) reported that the mediator has solved the issue regarding the ranks conferred on New Forces soldiers by their boss, Guillaume Soro.

6. Meanwhile, L'intelligent d'Abidjan (a privately-owned daily) told readers a different story. It said: "Compaore could not settle the issue pertaining to the ranks of the New Forces soldiers." The paper quoted the communique as saying, "The facilitator briefed participants at the meeting on the proposals he had submitted to the signatories to the Ouagadougou Political Agreement for the final settlement of issues pertaining to integration quotas for New Forces elements in the new national army, and the ranks of the New Forces soldiers."

7. In the wake of Gbagbo's four-day official visit to the eastern regions of Cote d'Ivoire, Le Patriote (a daily close to the opposition RDR party) called the tour "an electoral campaign." According to the paper, the Ivorian leader is "threatening" his opponents ahead of the presidential election billed for June 2008. It also asserted that Gbagbo has been "inspired" by what it called "Kibaki [Kenyan president]-style-hold-up." The paper further published a list of Gbagbo's civilian and military cabinet members and then concluded that "When it comes to issues pertaining to tribalism and xenophobia, Gbagbo is not the right person to give advice."

8. In another development, L'inter reported in a front-page item that a group of members of the ruling FPI party are planning to create a movement called "La Racine or The Root." The paper quoted the architects of La Racine saying that the movement forms part of the FPI party.

Relevant Links

West Africa
Côte d'Ivoire
Press and Media

9. Notre Voie (a daily close to the ruling FPI): In a two-page report, the paper provided readers with "ideas" on "how to get rid of exiled former sergeant Ibrahim Coulibaly, alias IB," who is accused of plotting a coup. The paper recalled that Cote d'Ivoire's top military prosecutor, Colonel Ange Kessi, opened a case against Coulibaly. However, "This is not enough," commented the paper saying that "the government should handle the case of IB as a state affair in order to prevent that it derails the peace process."


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