United States Embassy (Abidjan)
4 March 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.
The state of Licorne, the French troop in Cote d'Ivoire a year after the Ouagadougou Agreement; Defense Agreement between France and Africa; the visit of the Sierra Leone's President to Abidjan and the general elections are today's front-page stories in Ivorian daily newspapers. The papers still reported on the assessment of the Ouagadougou Agreement a year after its signature.
1. L'inter (a privately-owned daily) reported that in a press conference organized by the French troop commander, General Clement-Bollet, he stated that a year after the signature of the Ouagadougou Agreement, the peace process is irreversible. He said in that vain, French troops have been reduced but maintained the same arsenal. French soldiers have become development agents as they contribute to the building of brigdes, the rehabilitation of hospitals, schools and roads in every part of the Cote d'Ivoire.
2. "The Ouagadougou Agreement is one-year old, Ivorian don't want symbols any more" is the headline of L'Intelligent d'Abidjan (an independent daily). Acording to the paper, the heightened hope among the population when the Ouagadougou Agreement was signed, has disappeared and most Ivorians are now disappointed and don't believe that elections will take place in June. The paper said the population is disenchanted because after all the meetings between ex-belligerents and all the signatures, no concrete actions such as disarmament and identification have been implemented and they don't believe that the Prime Minister is willing to put an end to the crisis.
3. A front-page story in Notre Voie (a pro-FPI daily) echoed the same sentiment about what has happened a year after the Ouagadougou Agreement. According to the paper, most Ivorians interviewed these days about the peace process underway say that although some progress has been made, they are not satisfied yet because they have not seen the elections on horizon. They say Soro is unable to disarm his soldiers. The paper said what the population wants now is a quick disarmament followed by elections in order to have a normal life.
The paper also reported on the primary elections in United States. The story headline reads "Primary elections in United States: the dangerous bend for Hilary Clinton". According to the paper, Hilary is playing her political future today in Texas and Ohio as her challenger Obama has an advantage of 45% versus 43% of votes for her. The paper also reported that the Republican candidate, John McCain is winning and is sure to have the necessary numbers of delegates to be the Republican candidate to the elections.
On sub-region developments, Notre Voie (a pro-FPI daily) reported on the visit the Sierra Leone's President Koroma. According to the paper, Koroma arrived yesterday in Abidjan to have some discussions with President Gbagbo and exchange experiences.
5. In its front page, Soir Info (an independent daily) said "Disarmament, former Minister Joel N'guessan replies to Soro; the debate about disarmament is not stupid". According to the paper, the former Minister of Law stated in an interview that disarmement is paramount for the return to a normal situation. N'Guessan said, "All forces must be disarmed before we can go to elections."
On the economic front, the paper reported that Cote d'Ivoire has paid up its back payments of 118 billions CFA that the country owed to the World Bank.
6. "Peace process, Gbagbo angry against Choi; why he reproaches the Representative of the UN Secretary General" is the headline in Le Nouveau Reveil (a daily close to the former ruling PDCI party). According to the paper, Gbagbo is angry with Choi because the Secretary General's representative requested the arbitration of the UN Security Council on the question of the choice of SAGEM, the operator chosen to do identification. According to the paper, Mr. Choi decided to request the arbitration on the UN Security Council to put an end to the speculations and innuendos over the choice of INS (the National Statistic Institute) or SAGEM for the identification in order to move forward in the peace process.
7. Le Nouveau Réveil also reported that Lt-Colonel Jacques Combarieux, the spokes-person of the Licorne stated in an interview that the French military base in Cote d'Ivoire will not quit. Although French President Sarkozy announced last week in South Africa that France is not the gendarme of Africa and that its military bases will leave the continent, French soldiers in Cote d'Ivoire said that for the time being, their base here is not affected.
8. "A special protection brigade created: everything on the new FPI militia; why young patriots woo PDCI" is the front-page story of 24 Heures (a daily close to the opposition). According to the paper, the upkeep of the militia is costly. And this militia having become cumbersome, the presidential camp has decided to get rid of them. Meanwhile, a parallel militia called BSPA (Brigade Speciale de Protection d'Abidjan) has been created for future battles and to take care of the security of Abidjan.
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