Abidjan — French troops in Cote dIvoires main city, Abidjan, fired teargas Tuesday to stop thousands of demonstrators who tried and failed to storm the main gate of the permanent French military base.
The protestors were demanding that the French hand over Alassane Dramane Ouattara, the main opposition leader and one-time Ivorian prime minister, who took refuge at the French Embassy residence after the failed coup of September 19, with the full knowledge of the Cote dIvoire authorities. Ouattaras house was ransacked early in the rebellion.
"The protest began at about 08h00 and they tried to get into the French military camp. The Ivorian security forces could not contain them, so we had to step in. Yes, we used teargas to disperse them. But they are still there. As I speak, the Ivorian Defence Minister (Kadet Bertin) is here on the scene, trying to calm them down," Lieutenant-Colonel Ange-Antoine Leccia, the spokesman for the French military Unicorn operation in Cote dIvoire, told allAfrica.com late morning.
The marchers were pushed back beyond the outer perimeter of the French base, located close to the international airport in the economic capital, Abidjan. All French schools in the city were ordered to close Tuesday midday, after the protest at the military base.
Later reports said the Ivorian army commander, General Mathias Doue, had joined the Defence Minister, to try to restore calm among the angry marchers. The Interior Minister deplored the violent excesses of the demonstration in front of the French military camp on the lunchtime state television news. "Every day we receive about a dozen requests to hold demonstrations," said the minister, Paul Yao Ndre, "but we ask them not to march on the French Embassy or on the BIMA (43rd Marine Infantry Battalion French base)."
Many of the women who sell cooked lunches on the Plateau, the main business district in Abidjan, either packed up early on Tuesday or decided not to work at all to avoid being caught up in the demonstration, although it was taking place several miles away. Such moves are often an accurate, though anecdotal, barometer of rising tension in the city.
Some of the disappointed demonstrators, having failed to breach the French military base, reportedly set up barricades on the multi-lane thoroughfare, Boulevard Giscard dEstaing, that sweeps from the airport, along the lagoon, all the way downtown. Angry youths harassed passing white motorists, throwing stones and breaking their windscreens. They also randomly stopped vehicles to check and search drivers and passengers.
French troops were initially dispatched to protect and evacuate its nationals and other foreigners in Cote dIvoire, but are now deployed to provide a buffer force between the rebel and government frontlines. The deployment of the former colonial power's troops has drawn criticism from both pro- and anti-government supporters.
Sympathisers, and critics, of President Laurent Gbagbo have questioned Frances neutrality in the crisis, which has rocked Cote dIvoire, once considered as the West African eldorado and oasis of peace, stability and welcome in a region tormented by turmoil and civil wars.
Government supporters have accused France of sheltering Ouattara - a Muslim northerner - who took refuge in the French Embassy residence in Abidjan, once the fighting started in September. Questions about Ouattaras nationality - his detractors say he is Burkinabe and not Ivorian - barred him from contesting the presidential election in October 2000, which Gbagbo won.
Neighbouring Burkina Faso has been obliquely accused by the Ivorian authorities of involvement in the failed coup bid, staged by predominantly junior officers who also hail from Ouattaras northern opposition stronghold.
Some people claim the French are holding the former prime minister, "against his will". On Tuesday, demonstrators chanted angry anti-French slogans, calling France "a poison for Cote dIvoire and for Africa". They described French President Jacques Chirac as a "slaver".
The leader of the Union of Patriots for the Total Liberation of Cote dIvoire, Eugene Djue, one of the organizers of Tuesdays demonstration, said on Monday that his movement intended to "demonstrate its indignation to the French", for keeping Ouattara at the embassy residence and to insist that opposition politician be "freed", ostensibly so that he could answer their questions.
Quoted in the pro-government Eye of the People newspaper, Djue warned: "We are not going to stop here. If we don't get satisfaction; we will deploy the military and Ivorians wherever the French sites are."
Many Ivorians, who back the government, perceive Ouattara as the catalyst for the countrys present woes. But Ouattara sympathisers charge that he has become a scapegoat for a government in denial, which promotes ivoirite (true Ivorian identity and the principle of putting Ivorians first) and xenophobia and has marginalized the north, excluding most northerners from power.
Fresh from participating in Tuesday's demonstration, Clarice, a bartender, described her experience to allAfrica. She said the French, who she said were playing an ambiguous role, "lined up their military and dogs and used teargas and stun grenades", to try to get rid of the demonstrators, "but all we want is Ouattara, so that he takes responsibility for all of this. He is the main problem and he must come out of hiding and sort it this mess out."
Those who back the rebels in Cote d'Ivoire, have claimed the strategic positioning of French soldiers between dissident and loyalist frontlines prevented the mutineers from marching south, from their central bastion in Bouake, towards the nominal capital Yamoussoukro, effectively stopping them from seizing the main metropolis, Abidjan.
France is seen as both an ogre and a saviour in Cote dIvoire. Those of Gbagbos supporters, who say the war should have continued, and wanted a military outcome, hold Paris partly responsible, for urging the government to agree a ceasefire and seek a peaceful resolution with the rebels, who launched the revolt.
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The 1,000-strong French force, sent by the former colonial power, is currently acting as a buffer between loyalist and rebel troops, until regional peacekeepers are dispatched to Cote dIvoire, which, West African officials say, will be "within about two weeks". As well as its permanent base in Abidjan, France has military units in other parts of Africa, including Gabon and Senegal.
This week, French soldiers, temporarily supervising the ceasefire signed by the rebels and agreed by the government last week, said the truce was holding in the interior, with both sides keeping to their frontlines.
The French News Agency reported Tuesday that Paris sent military troop reinforcements and logistics to Cote dIvoire, Monday, to beef up its existing operation, in line with its expanded ceasefire supervisory duties.
A preparatory ceasefire monitoring assessment team, from the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), was expected in Abidjan, Tuesday. A mini-summit of the six Ecowas heads of state who make up the special contact group, created to try to broker peace in Cote dIvoire, is scheduled here, Wednesday.
