Ivory Coast’s former rebels have decided to resume their role in government but concerns remained over disarmament, a possible leadership dispute and a planned trip to rebel zones by President Laurent Gbagbo. After meeting Monday in their central stronghold Bouake, the former rebels announced they would end a three-month boycott of cabinet meetings of the unity government created in January. "Wishing to give our country the chance for peace to which we all aspire, the New Forces invite their ministers to return, from (Monday) to the government of national reconciliation," the former rebels, using the name they took in January, said in a statement Tuesday. "The New Forces reaffirm our willingness to work serenely towards a durable peace in Ivory Coast."
| "Meet the New Forces, same as the Old Forces, which were same as the Olde Forces..." |
The unity government was installed in April to help bring an end to 15 months of civil war that have split the west African country in two and crippled the world’s top cocoa producer. It stumbled in September with the New Forces’ withdrawal from cabinet meetings, accusing President Laurent Gbagbo of hoarding power and refusing to implement January peace accords to end the war. Monday’s decision was widely hailed both within the volatile west African state and by the international community, which hopes to return Ivory Coast to its position as a regional powerhouse both for its international seaports and cocoa-based economy that had been the second largest in west Africa.
| It didn't used to be "volatile." In fact, it was kind of boring — mostly peaceful, moderately prosperous, at least as far as West Africa goes... |
"We welcome with satisfaction the decision by the New Forces to reintegrate in government so as to fulfill their role in the national reconciliation process in Ivory Coast," said French foreign affairs spokesman Cecile Pozzo di Borgo on Tuesday. But lingering rifts remain, among them the question of disarmament. Since their failed attempt to oust Gbagbo in September 2002, the rebels have held the country’s north and western zones, while the government controls the south. Both sides have begun to pull back heavy armaments from a 640-kilometer (400-mile) ceasefire zone patrolled by French and west African troops but the storing of weaponry and the cantonment of fighters have resulted in little progress.
| "Well, I don't know if we're ready to go as far as actually giving up our weaponry..." |
Another source of concern is an apparent split between the political and military sides of the New Forces. Ibrahim Coulibaly, who spearheaded the first-ever coup in December 1999, continues to wield enormous influence in northern Ivory Coast. His supporters, mostly among the military cadre, have in the past week caused tension over the leadership of the rebel movement, taking to the airwaves to anoint him as the "president of the New Forces," although he holds no official leadership title. Backers of New Forces secretary general Guillaume Soro, who serves as communications minister in the unity government, insist that it is he who holds the reins.
| Assuming anybody does, of course... |
As the daily Le Front noted Tuesday, "the strife between Soro and IB (as Coulibaly is colloquially known) could be fatal for the unity of the New Forces."
| No room for more than one ego, they mean... |
"We cannot exclude the possibility that it could implode," said the newspaper, which is nominally aligned with the former rebels. An imminent planned visit to rebel territory by President Gbagbo also remains contentious as the New Forces say they have yet to be officially informed of his itinerary. They have, however, not opposed that he travel to the second city Bouake, which Gbagbo last week dubbed a "symbol of the divided country." |