Johannesburg — Almost two weeks after launching a dramatic army mutiny, and reported takeover bid, Ivorian rebels gave themselves a new name Tuesday, announcing creation of the Patriotic Movement of Cote d'Ivoire (MPCI).
Past and present rebels and guerrillas on the continent have also favoured the word 'patriotic,' to describe both themselves and their 'armies,' 'fronts' and movements. But the rebels' numbers, their aims, leadership, and who they represent, remain shrouded in mystery, rumour and suspicion. And to whom do they owe allegiance?
Since their failed coup on 19 September, the mutineers have gained control of most of northern Cote d'Ivoire, as well as the strategic central city of Bouake. On Tuesday, the rebels said they had taken the village of Sakassou, 40km (25 miles) south of Bouake.
They have so far been described as a "band of exiled army deserters and disaffected recruits," coup plotters, terrorists, mercenaries, hired guns and traitors and, of course, rebels. Many others see the rebel forces as patriots who want to rid Cote d'Ivoire of what they call the undemocratic government of President Laurent Gbagbo.
On Tuesday, coinciding with reports that they had captured more territory, some of the dissident soldiers declared that their objective was to topple Gbagbo's government.
This announcement will meet with approval in some quarters and increase the rebels' popularity. But such statements are also likely to infuriate and frustrate those trying to mediate a peaceful solution to the 13-day armed rebellion as well as the wider conflict in Cote d'Ivoire.
Since holding an emergency summit in Ghana on Sunday, the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has begun trying to broker a deal between the government and the Patriotic Movement rebels.
A senior-level ministerial team met Gbagbo on Monday. On Wednesday, ministers from the six regional countries that make up the contact group created at the summit are expected in the economic capital, Abidjan. Their next task is to arrange a meeting with the rebels.
West African leaders warned Sunday that if negotiation failed, they would deploy a regional military intervention force to keep the peace in Cote d'Ivoire.
But Ecowas hopes its presidential mediation initiative will help end the violent uprising in Cote d'Ivoire that many regional leaders fear may spiral into the brutal conflicts seen across the borders in Liberia and Sierra Leone, still scarred by civil war.
Analysts have warned that the Cote d'Ivoire crisis is showing many of the elements of civil strife, complicated by potential outside involvement. Political, ethnic and religious splits have marred the once impeccable reputation of the world's top producing cocoa country.
Cote d'Ivoire was regarded as a peaceful regional eldorado, a magnet for migrants looking for a better life and the crossroads of West Africa, until a few years before its first coup in 1999. From a population of 16 million, more than four million are reported to come from neighbouring countries.
But the insurgents deny they are backed by foreigners, though some admit they were in exile abroad. The Ivorian government has said mercenaries from neighbouring Burkina Faso, Liberia and even Guinea are involved in the current crisis. The Patriotic Movement rebels say their troops come from all over Cote d'Ivoire and are committed to their objectives.
A rebel spokesman, who gave his name as Lieutenant Elinder, held an impromptu news conference Tuesday. He told Reuters all they wanted was to end discrimination and hold fresh elections in Cote d'Ivoire, to overrule contested polls in 2000 that brought Gbagbo and his Popular Front party (FPI) to power. "The aim of this struggle is to restore justice, peace and the rule of law among all Ivorians. We just want a very short transition and to give the right to any Ivorian to contest," said Elinger.
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The dissidents have complained that tactical troops from France, deployed in Cote d'Ivoire to evacuate its own nationals and other foreigners, were blocking their advance east and south, towards Abidjan. Paris, the former colonial power, denied that its soldiers were trying to prevent a rebel advance on loyalist troop lines.
But a French military spokesman warned that the rebels would not be allowed to enter a 20km (13 mile) security perimeter and 'evacuation zone' established by his men. Paris has officially sent "logistical support" to its former colony, stressing that it fully supported the legitimate Ivorian government.
Seventy-nine more French paratroops were dispatched to Cote d'Ivoire on Tuesday, Reuters reported, to strengthen outposts near rebel lines. They will also set up a tactical headquarters, to bolster West African mediation efforts, ahead of the possible arrival of regional peacekeepers.
