Abidjan — "Lay down your arms and everything is possible," Cote d'Ivoire president, Laurent Gbagbo, told rebels Tuesday night in a nationwide television broadcast since the start of a military uprising almost three weeks ago.
Calling the current conflict in Cote d'Ivoire 'absurd, dirty, unhealthy and useless," Gbagbo urged the rebels to first surrender their weapons, then sit down with the authorities to discuss their grievances. "Put down your arms and wait for the next election. The era of the coup d'etat is over," he said.
Adopting a conciliatory tone, and pointing to increasing 'xenophobic,' anti-French and anti-French-media feelings, Gbagbo also appealed to his compatriots not to attack West African immigrants living in Cote d'Ivoire and to 'leave the French alone'. The rebellion "is an Ivorian problem," he said. "There are Ivorians among the attackers, and we must ask ourselves why."
Gbagbo spoke at length, without notes, and also explained why he had declined to sign a ceasefire accord with the rebels, proposed by the regional mediation team of West African ministers last week. He called the differences between the Ivorians and the mission sent by the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) "misunderstandings" that had already been cleared up.
The Ivorian leader said his democratically elected government remained the only constitutional authority in Cote d'Ivoire, and could therefore not contemplate legitimizing the rebellion. Giving the rebels any formal legal status, by sitting at a table with 'armed attackers,' warned Gbagbo, would set a worrying precedent and open the floodgates for any other rebel groups in Africa to use blackmail and follow the same course.
He told his citizens to expect a fresh West African peace effort, spearheaded by the Senegalese president, to begin shortly, to try to end the crisis in Cote d'Ivoire, which Ecowas leaders fear could spread to other countries in the region. Senegal's president Abdoulaye Wade is the current chairman of the regional community.
"The first mediation mission strayed from the Accra (Ecowas summit) agreement and that caused misunderstandings," said Gbagbo, again repeating that if the rebels had been asked to lay down their weapons, "then everything would have been possible, everything still is possible".
Gbagbo said his message came from the people of Cote d'Ivoire and he repeated several times: "You attackers, wherever you are, whoever you are, whatever errors you have committed, lay down your arms. But as long as you are armed and are marching against us, we have the right to defend ourselves".
If the rebels are ready to dialogue and negotiate, as the West African ministers had told him, the president said: "Then put down your weapons. There is nothing that can't be agreed through dialogue in our homeland. If you have problems, lay down your arms. I am asking you this in the name of this country".
Gbagbo said he was ready to negotiate. "I am for discussion and dialogue, but I am not for the war. I am for peace. We are in this war because it has been imposed on us".
The Ivorian leader also addressed the confused military situation in the central rebel stronghold of Bouake, which government officials claimed Monday had been 'liberated'. Gbagbo said: "Sunday, our troops entered the town of Bouake," though he added that the city was not yet under total government control.
He praised the armed and security forces, which he said were continuing to put down the rebellion. But the insurgents maintain they still control Bouake, as well as the strategic northern city of Korhogo, putting a significant part of the country beyond the government's reach.
Turning to the pernicious and pervasive issue of 'ivoirite' (true Ivorian identity), and renewed hostility against some West African immigrants since the bloody revolt, President Gbagbo stressed that his government had tried to stamp out the practice, but that it was again beginning to rear its ugly head. "I'm not going to get into this polemic. But foreigners are not our problem. Foreigners are not our problem. Foreigners are not our problem," he stressed three times.
Nationals from neighbouring countries are estimated to make up almost 40 percent of the population in Cote d'Ivoire.
Gbagbo told Ivorians not to confuse the issues and the fight. "This is a battle to liberate our country and not to attack foreigners. The foreigners who live amongst us - as long as they obey our laws - leave them alone and let them be," he said. "Our enemies are those who have taken up arms against us. Don't attack foreigners," he urged, appealing to immigrants not to flee.
Cote d'Ivoire's northern neighbour, Burkina Faso, has been obliquely fingered by the Ivorian authorities of backing the rebels in the 19 September coup, prompting vicious reprisal attacks against Burkinabe living in Cote d'Ivoire.
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The Burkina government has formally complained to Gbagbo's government about the harassment of its citizens across the border. Several shantytowns in Cote d'Ivoire, home mainly to regional immigrant workers, as well as poorer Ivorians, have been burned down.
Gbagbo announced that security would be tightened around all the military bases in the economic capital, Abidjan and all shacks constructed close by would be razed.
The Ivorians have accused Burkina of harbouring dissident troops and allowing them to train on its territory. The latest diplomatic spat has further soured already poor relations between the two countries.
Gbagbo repeated twice that African countries must ensure there were no training camps on their territory, giving dissidents the means "to attack neighbouring countries. Make sure that there are no 'refugees' receiving arms, or mercenaries training to attack their neighbours".
Following the speech, the rebels rejected Gbagbo's proposals, saying they are planning an all-out offensive against loyalist troops.
"He is playing games and I don't trust what he says," rebel spokesman Tuo Fozie, told the BBC. "We're not going to lay down our weapons before negotiations."
