Abidjan — "Bouake is liberated," was a triumphant announcement on Cote d'Ivoire state radio on Monday evening, prompting some Ivorians to break into a victory dance featured on national television news.
But there was no independent confirmation late Monday that the government had recaptured the central rebel stronghold of Bouake, which fell to the insurgents on September 19, the day they launched their rebellion. Indeed, as night fell, there were contradictory reports of the status quo in Bouake, although all observers agreed that loyalists and dissident forces had clashed.
Less than 24 hours after the Ivorian government refused to sign a ceasefire with the rebels of the Patriotic Movement of Cote d'Ivoire, government forces appeared to intensify their counter attack to try to retake Bouake. After a military buildup further south, the loyalist, or government, offensive was launched on Sunday, as hopes of a regionally brokered ceasefire collapsed. Military sources told Reuters the army withdrew overnight, but the rebels claimed that they had repulsed the attack.
While the military advance continued on Monday, the army spokesman, Colonel Jules Yao Yao, speaking on the main state television news broadcast that evening, put developments into sharper official focus. "I'm repeating what you already know about the liberation of Bouake," he said. "We can imagine the joy of the people of Bouake, but you must show restraint and refrain from reprisals against our fellow compatriots," said Yao Yao in a short prepared statement. He added that any suspects should be handed over to the security forces and that Bouake residents should be on the lookout for infiltrators. The army spokesman also warned that they should observe the nationwide nighttime curfew with immediate effect.
The Colonel said that the "liberation of Bouake" was a joint effort of the gendarmerie [national paramilitary police] and the armed forces of Cote d'Ivoire. He concluded his message with a rally call, saying, "haut le coeur" ['take heart'].
But the situation remains fluid in Bouake. One state television report said government troops had entered the town and then withdrawn. An independent observer said loyalist and rebel forces had returned to their positions by nightfall. The closing headline in Cote d'Ivoire's nighttime television news bulletin stated that pockets of resistance remained.
What is clear is that West African peace efforts to mediate in the Cote d"Ivoire crisis are over -- at least for now. The negotiations collapsed on Sunday as regional ministers for the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) packed their bags, after failing to convince Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo to agree a truce with the rebels.
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The French foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, Monday urged Gbagbo to sign a ceasefire, adding that Paris was concerned about the situation in his country. France, the former colonial power, has sent logistical military support -- and 1000 troops -- to Cote d'Ivoire, though it says it will not get directly involved in the conflict.
"We have to get out of this crisis through dialogue, through reconciliation," said de Villepin, adding that there was no "military solution" to the current political, economic, religious and social problems in France's former colony.
As he prepared to leave the main city, Abidjan, on Monday, the Ecowas executive secretary, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, pledged to continue the mediation process in Cote d'Ivoire. Chambas warned, "We have got a war on our hands, and we've got to find a way to end it."
