http://za.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews <http://za.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006 -11-04T082614Z_01_BAN430346_RTRIDST_0_OZATP-IVORYCOAST-LYNCHINGS-20061104.XM L&archived=False> &storyID=2006-11-04T082614Z_01_BAN430346_RTRIDST_0_OZATP-IVORYCOAST-LYNCHING S-20061104.XML&archived=False
Ivory Coast militia members burned alive ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Two members of a feared militia gang loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo were burned alive in Ivory Coast's main city Abidjan on Friday in an apparent act of mob justice, witnesses said. Residents in Abidjan's densely populated suburb of Youpougon surrounded the two members of the Patriotic Group for Peace (GPP), whose militants are often unemployed youths accused by locals of stealing and terrorising civilians. "There was one who had a knife and tried to intimidate people," Dominique Preyckah, a student, told Reuters. "They threw tyres over them and set them on fire." A Reuters correspondent said two smouldering corpses were lying in the street with fireword burning around them. Dozens of youths, some of them with machetes, stood around cheering. Residents said the violence started when neighbourhood youths went to a GPP base in Youpougon and demanded its members leave. "The youths didn't want the GPP here because of their violent acts. There were clashes. The GPP killed two of the youths, one had his throat slit, the other his stomach sliced open," one resident said, asking not to be named. "Out of revenge, the youths captured two of the militia members and burned them." Security forces later escorted other GPP members out of their base, as residents danced in the street. Tin-roofed bars which had shut during the violence threw open their doors to serve jubilant customers. "Now we can breathe freely again," one resident said. The GPP was officially disbanded in 2005 after occupying a primary school in another residential district of Abidjan, but it soon reformed. On Tuesday, a member of the gang was shot dead in a clash with security forces. The incident did not appear be directly related to political tensions over plans for a transition to long-delayed elections in Ivory Coast, which has been divided between a rebel-held north and government-run south since a 2002/2003 civil war. The U.N. Security Council voted late on Wednesday to give broad powers to the former French colony's prime minister to lead the country to polls by October 31, 2007, but also extended the mandate of President Gbagbo for the period. Both Gbagbo and his rebel opponents have cautiously welcomed the U.N. resolution while warning they would defend their own interests during the transition. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/