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Africa: Subsaharan
France, under attack in Ivory Coast, mobilizes reinforcements
2004-11-07
ABIDJAN - French forces wiped out Ivory Coast's military aircraft that were sitting on the ground Saturday in retaliation for the killing of nine of its soldiers stationed here, and sent in reinforcements as anti-French feeling reached boiling point in the west African former French colony.
Time for the FFL.
At the same time, France called on President Laurent Gbagbo to find a political solution to the current tension in Ivory Coast, the worst since a force was placed between the government army and rebels.

The Security Council, meeting at France's request, condemned the attack on French forces and voiced support for French and UN forces in the country.
That will be effective as anything the UN ever does.
France will ask the Security Council for an arms embargo on Ivory Coast, French UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said.
That will be effective as anything the UN ever does.
Ivory Coast warplanes had earlier executed a devastating raid on a French army camp killing the nine men plus a US national and wounding about 30 other soldiers. French President Jacques Chirac thereupon ordered the destruction of all Ivory Coast planes involved in ceasefire violations in the country, divided since a failed coup two years ago. The French blew up two warplanes on the ground and later destroyed at least three army helicopters by later Saturday, a French army spokesman said.

Resentment against France boiled up in Abidjan, where youths chanting anti-French slogans rolled their eyes looted and made faces torched four French schools. Tens of thousands of young supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo marched on Abidjan airport, where a company of French infantry was stationed, and French helicopters fired warning shots to head them off. Faced with an immense human tide, the French armed forces used 20mm cannon near the Houphouet-Boigny and Charles de Gaulle bridges on the lagoon, which link the working-class and business districts with the airport.

Witnesses said the crowd was halted, but it was still large at 2 am (0200 GMT) while sporadic firing continued.

There was no immediate information about victims, but witnesses said they had seen bodies on the De Gaulle bridge. An hour-long clash had earlier occurred at the airport between French and Ivorian troops.

Ivorian forces closed the airport on Saturday afternoon and evacuated staff, sealing off the perimeter and closing it to air traffic, airport sources said.

A diplomatic source said Gbagbo had met for an hour with the ambassadors of France and the United States, Gildas Le Lidec and Aubrey Hooks.

The attack by Russian-built Sukhoi fighter-bombers which dropped a 500 pound bomb was the most serious against French military personnel in operations since one in Lebanon in 1983 killing 58 personnel. A French military spokesman ruled out the possibility of error by Ivory Coast aircrew.

France called upon the UN Security Council for support to modify the rules of engagement of UN and French peacekeepers currently in Ivory Coast. Essentially these are allowed to use force only in legitimate self-defence.
That will be effective as anything the UN ever does.
French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said France had destroyed the Ivorian aircraft as an act of legitimate self-defence. French military sources told AFP that in addition to the Sukhoi fighter-bombers a total of five helicopters were also targeted. This is just about all of the military aircraft the Ivorian government forces possess.

France also ordered 300 more troops to Ivory Coast to buttress its 4,000-member peacekeeping force. It also scrambled three Mirage fighter jets from Chad to Libreville in Gabon.

Chirac called President Gbagbo after the attack "to warn him against any act liable to break the ceasefire" between the government and rebel New Forces holding the north of the country, presidency officials said.

The EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the attack on the French peace-keepers was "inadmissable," and warned Gbagbo he was responsible for the safety of all foreigners in the country, including the 14,000 French nationals. The future of the Ivory Coast's relationship with the EU depended on it, he said.
The EU is almost as effective as the UN.
In attacks apparently ordered by Gbagbo, government jets Thursday began pounding northern communities under the control of the New Forces since September 2002 when an insurrection erupted in the wake of a failed military coup.
Posted by:Steve White

#12  I was listening to NPR in the car this morning and the poor reporters couldn't find anyone to root against so they were forced to report it pretty much down the middle.

It's scary when NPR has to resort to objective, fact-based journalism.
Posted by: JDB   2004-11-07 6:33:00 PM  

#11  We should be asking the French 'where are the tons of missing cocoa beans?'
Posted by: Mark Espinola   2004-11-07 5:30:00 PM  

#10  It's le Quagmire, le Quagmire, I tell ya! Let the French get out of their outhouse pit on their own. They will either get smarter, less verbose (0.000001 odds) or they will STFU.

Fred, put up the sympathy meter on this one!
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2004-11-07 1:20:28 PM  

#9  LOL OP.
Posted by: Lucky   2004-11-07 1:11:57 PM  

#8  All this goes to prove without doubt that the *SPIT*FRENCH*SPIT* haven't learned a thing since Algeria. They were stupid then, and they're still stupid now. Watch for French to start losing hundreds of men to sniper attacks.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2004-11-07 1:03:20 PM  

#7  I am no friend of the French but...

The black dictator is a French puppet, he'll protect the French citizens if he wants to stay in power. It is not a coincidence that Coup de'Etat is a French word. If not him, they'll get someone else to protect Tota FinaElf profits.

I think the attacks by French on civilians for revenge reasons are probably bullshit, like the Jenin massacre. I'm not really sure how the bridge could not be covered in bodies if 20mm canon were fired at it. I'm guessing some warning shots for dramatic effect. This of course is amplified by those that want the French to look bad just as injuries caused by the US are amplified by the French media.

I'd like the French kicked out of west africa (even better would be if they behaved like a civilized nation in the region but I'm not expecting that to happen any time soon) but I just don't trust this report very much.
Posted by: RJ Schwarz   2004-11-07 12:34:38 PM  

#6  NO BLOOD FOR COCOA BEANS !!!

On a more serious note: has anyone seen anything more enlightening or definitive about this "US national" (aid worker) killed in the attack described above? I havn't found anything yet.
Posted by: Mark Z.   2004-11-07 7:02:34 AM  

#5  I wonder how soon l'effette chirac is going to call on Monsieur le President Bush to assist in the effort to subdue the Ivory Coast situation.
It seems very fitting for France to be faced with this situation. It is even better that there are 14,000 frenchies right there and l'effette chirac is asking the black dictator to be responsible for them. That's a laugh! since when has a black dictator been responsible for a whitey?
Wait, what was I thinking? I am sure l'effette chirac will wait until after the 18th UN resolution to ask the country for a resolution to decide on a resolution to the situation. These are great times to be alive in the USA
Posted by: joecool   2004-11-07 3:49:11 AM  

#4  Bing!!! We have a winner Anonymous6092.

The next time the "French" and UN tell us how Israel
breaks the conventions of war will we remind them?. I would bet that it was more than one shell and that more than just a few "unarmed civilians" were killed.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2004-11-07 3:41:24 AM  

#3  Jacques is probably wishing he had a couple of real aircraft carriers at this point...
Posted by: Classical_Liberal   2004-11-07 3:10:21 AM  

#2  "Faced with an immense human tide, the French armed forces used 20mm cannon ..."
We stop to contemplate French reactions should 20mm cannon were used in West Bank (or Faluja) against 'peaceful' demonstrators.
Posted by: Anonymous6092   2004-11-07 2:50:22 AM  

#1  "French go home!" mmmmm That has a ring to it.

"French go home!" loyalist mobs shouted, as thousands set fire to at least two French schools and tried to storm a French military base, seeking out French civilians as French and Ivory Coast forces briefly traded gunfire.

"Everybody get your Frenchman!" young men screamed to each other, swinging machetes.'(AP)

The Ivory Coast IS Chirac's version of Iraq.
Let's see if the U.N. acts quickly since Chirac gets along so well with Kofi. Are U.N. troops about to be airlifted in to Abidjan.

Hot tip of the weekend: Cocoa beans are going to be a hot (bullish) item, right up there with crude oil when cocoa traders begin buying & selling Monday morning :)
Posted by: Mark Espinola   2004-11-07 2:09:45 AM  

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