Abidjan — West African heads of state, and the leader of the African Union (AU), have begun preliminary talks, Wednesday, aimed at ending a five week rebellion, which has left hundreds of people dead and tens of thousands displaced. The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has been spearheading mediation efforts and brokered a ceasefire last week.
Of the six West African leaders in the Contact Group expected to attend, three were present - the presidents of Niger, Mali and Togo. Ghana was represented by Vice-President Aliu Mahama and Nigeria by Foreign Minister Sule Lamido. No representative from Guinea-Bissau had arrived at the start of talks. Also present was the current chair of the African Union and President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki who attended the earlier Ecowas summit in Accra at which the Contact Group was set up.
A West African-mediated ceasefire agreement signed by rebels of the Patriotic Movement of Cote dIvoire (MPCI) and accepted by Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo last Thursday, is holding, temporarily supervised by French troops. But the details, implementation and interpretation of the truce remain undefined.
Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo welcomed the Contact Group during a short and business-like ceremony, attended by traditional leaders, at the Hotel Ivoire. He particularly thanked Mbeki for attending, saying it showed that he was deeply interested in Cote d'Ivoire's problems.
After the speeches, Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema signalled the start of consultations and the contact group withdrew to one of the hotel's upper floors.
The task is mighty and the plan ambitious, but key elements of the accord have not yet been explained or finalised. No one yet knows the timetable for the disarmament of the mutineers, who failed to seize the country in an attempted coup on 19 September. The rebels have said they are ready to negotiate and will maintain their frontline positions, agreed under the ceasefire, but that they will also hold onto their weapons.
The Ecowas executive secretary, Mohamed Ibn Chambas said he was confident the leaders would achieve a negotiated compromise between the Ivorian authorities and the rebels, who control most of northern Cote dIvoire and the central stronghold of Bouake. But Gbagbos government insists the insurgents must lay down their arms.
The regional heads of state - whose ultimate objective is to bring the two sides together for direct talks, find common ground, resolve their differences and end the rebellion - must tackle these prickly political issues first. Meanwhile, West Africas military army chiefs are set to consider the wider implications for a planned regional ceasefire monitoring force that Ecowas is preparing to send to Cote dIvoire.
Chambas told AllAfrica that military officers from Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal - together with officers from France, Britain the United States and the United Nations - were scheduled for an assessment in the field of positions and needs in order to make recommendations on the size of the force required, ahead of deployment.
Among the first duties of a West African interposition force would be to gain the confidence of the MPCI rebels, ensure their security and disarm them. The MPCI's political secretary-general has expressed reservations about any peace talks taking place on Ivorian territory.
Chambas said the regional troops should also "ensure the protection of the arms collected from the insurgents, re-establish the command and control of the (loyalist) security forces (as well as) facilitate the resumption of government services and normal supplies to towns and contribute to the implementation of the peace agreement, once such an agreement is established."
The army commanders of the ten Ecowas countries that make up the organisations defence and security commission are due to meet in Abidjan on Friday, to take a decision on regional troops being dispatched, pending confirmation by foreign ministers.
Several member states have already pledged to contribute troops to a regional ceasefire monitoring force, which should replace French soldiers in Cote dIvoire within the next two weeks.
Meanwhile there has been a tough message from Paris following protests, Tuesday, outside the French military base in Abidjan.
Thousands of demonstrators tried to storm the French military base in Abidjan, but were pushed back with water jets and teargas. Angry protestors demanded that France, the former colonial power, hand over Cote dIvoires main opposition leader, Alassane Dramane Ouattara, who they accuse of complicity in the rebellion.
Ouattara, a former prime minister and a Muslim northerner like many of the mutineers, sought refuge at the French ambassadors residence in Abidjan after the start of the military revolt last month.
A spokesman in Paris said French foreign minister Dominique de Villepin had called President Gbagbo "to demand that everything be done to avoid possible attacks by unruly groups against French nationals and foreigners or against French forces in Cote d'Ivoire." He added that further attacks could jeopardise the French army's role providing a buffer force to the ceasefire between rebels and the government.
North-South Tensions
Among their grievances, the insurgents have accused Gbagbos government of excluding largely Muslim northerners from effective power and sidelining their part of the country, in favour of the predominantly Christian and animist south. The mutineers say Gbagbo, a Bete from western Cote dIvoire, must resign and fresh elections should be held.
Since 1999, Cote dIvoire has been wracked by political, ethnic and religious tensions that have polarised the nation broadly, but not exclusively, in a north-south divide. Some 40% of the Ivorian population is Muslim. But, in interview with allAfrica last week, Gbagbo warned that there would be no partition in his country under any circumstances.
Marchers Tuesday accused Paris of protecting Ouattara, who many Ivorians blame for igniting the current crisis in their country, adding that the role of the French in Cote dIvoire was deeply ambiguous. His critics say the former prime minister, whose nationality has been questioned, must come out of hiding and explain himself.
While it publicly deplored the violence of Tuesdays anti-French demonstration, the Ivorian government seemed to send mixed messages to the outside world. The main state-run evening television news called the marchers young patriots and urged a good turnout at another demonstration planned Wednesday. Yet, in a recent address to the nation, Gbagbo appealed to his compatriots to "leave the French alone", saying Cote dIvoire must address its own real problems.
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In another worrying turn in the conflict, reports from the western cocoa producing town of Daloa spoke of the arbitrary killings of men from the Muslim-dominated Dioula community, perceived as sympathising with the rebels. Daloa residents reported that the shooting of the Dioula, and other non-Ivorian Muslims, was being carried out by people dressed in military uniform.
On Tuesday, Cote dIvoires mainly Muslim northern neighbour, Mali, condemned what it described as the killing of a number of its citizens across the border, "notably in Daloa". In an official statement, the government in Bamako lodged a protest with the authorities in Cote dIvoire, expressing its "indignation at these abuses, violence, disappearances and even the deaths within the Malian community living in Daloa." No figure was given for the number of Malians thought to have been killed.
Earlier reports filtering out of rebel-held zones spoke of selective abuses, including summary executions, committed by the insurgents against security forces and civilians. Young men were also said to be drafted into the rebel ranks, by force.
On Friday, Amnesty International published a damning report, accusing both government and rebel forces of serious human rights violations, including extra-judicial killings. Amnesty reported that both rebels and loyalist troops had targeted civilians suspected of backing their rivals. This, said Amnesty, had led to the displacement of tens of thousands of people who had fled the conflict zones, prompting a serious humanitarian crisis in Cote dIvoire.
