A group of rebel fighters in Ivory Coast broke into a television station on Friday and declared allegiance to a new leader, casting doubt on the latest attempts to bring peace to the West African nation. The stunt by fighters loyal to exiled soldier Ibrahim Coulibaly, known as "IB", came as the rebellion’s current political and military chiefs prepared for a meeting on Monday to mull a return to a power-sharing government.
| "IB"? Shouldn't he be known as "IC"? Either his supporters aren't too good at spelling, or the W is silent... |
The surprise announcement also came as rebels, who call themselves New Forces, and government troops started withdrawing heavy weapons from a front line dividing the world’s top cocoa grower and policed by French and West African peacekeepers.
| "New Forces" as opposed to the same old snuffies? |
"All talks, all decisions between the New Forces and third parties cannot take place without the effective presence of Sergeant Ibrahim Coulibaly," said a spokesman for the fighters called Bamba Kassoum, known as "Kass", in the rebel stronghold of Bouake. "Any other decision is null and void."
Ivory Coast tumbled into civil war in September last year after a failed coup by disgruntled soldiers seeking to oust President Laurent Gbagbo. Thousands of people died and more than a million were forced from their homes. Although the war has been declared over, the former French colony is still divided between a rebel-held north and government-controlled south. While calls for peace are mounting, hardliners in both camps are standing firm. A January peace deal has stalled on mutual distrust, with rebels accusing Gbagbo of back tracking while he has blamed them for dragging their heels on disarmament. "We urge the New Forces, whoever the hell their leader might be, to go back into the government of reconciliation," said West Africa’s top diplomat Mohamed ibn Chambas after a summit in neighbouring Ghana to discuss the region’s hotspots.
The split within rebel ranks came after recent signs of divisions between the rebellion’s political and military wings. "We, comrades in arms from before and now, and fighters for the New Forces, declare with our last breath that Major Ibrahim Coulibaly is, from this day, if he wasn’t already, the president of the New Forces," said the statement read by Kass.
| He got promoted between paragraphs? |
While IB has long been seen as the behind-the-scenes backer of Ivory Coast’s revolt, he has never admitted to it.
Guillaume Soro emerged as the rebels’ political leader and former Ivorian officer Colonel Soumaila Bakayoko is currently the rebel chief of staff. He was the official who signed a declaration paving the way for eventual disarmament. A rebel official said the insurgents loyal to IB had tried to kill Soro on Friday in Bouake, but failed.
A convoy of vehicles carrying Soro was stopped by a roadblock of five vehicles soon after the insurgents’ statement. However witnesses said no shots were fired and the influential rebel commander Cherif Ousmane calmed the tense situation down.
| "These aren't the 'droids you're looking for... Move along..." |
IB was among a group of suspected mercenaries detained in Paris in August on suspicion of plotting to kill Gbagbo. French judicial officials said then that some members of the group had admitted to being part of the plot. IB’s adviser in Paris Mouhamed Diakite confirmed IB was still in the country. He added: "we are delighted at this courageous decision" by IB’s former brothers-in-arms. |