[Ugnet] UN condemns Ivory Coast bombing..politics in Africa

[Matek Opoko]

UN condemns Ivory Coast bombing

Tensions have been rising since a disarmament deadline was missed United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has condemned raids by government aircraft on rebel-held Ivory Coast as a "major violation" of the ceasefire. Mr Annan's spokesman said several dozen civilians may have been killed or injured in the attacks. The attacks on Bouake and Korhogo are the first major resumption of hostilities since last year's truce. The country has been split in two, with 10,000 French and UN troops deployed to monitor the ceasefire. Last week, the rebels, known as the New Forces, withdrew their ministers from the unity government and accused the army of preparing to return to war. Explosions Three people were killed and at least 20 were wounded in the raids, French news agency AFP quoted New Forces leader Guillaume Soro as saying. We've just been bombed. The war has started again New Forces commander Cherif Ousmane The first two raids struck Bouake, a rebel stronghold, on Thursday morning, when two Sukhoi fighter planes apparently targeted a military camp and a checkpoint to the north of the city. In a raid in the afternoon, jets bombed the rebel headquarters and the television station, a French spokesman told the BBC. But witnesses told Reuters new agency that the raid on the headquarters had missed. Korhogo - situated 225 kilometres (140 miles) north of the rebel stronghold of Bouake - was reportedly bombed at nightfall. "They bombarded at 1720 GMT. It was two fighter planes and I saw them myself. They dropped bombs and I can see smoke rising now," Hegel Ouattara, a local politician, told Reuters. UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said Annan was "deeply concerned" by the attacks. He urged President Laurent Gbagbo and all parties "to immediately cease all hostilities and to take all possible actions to prevent further bloodshed". US state department spokesman Richard Boucher condemned the attacks and urged "all the parties to exercise restraint and continue to work together to decrease tensions". 'New offensive' The main government army command has so far refused to comment on whether this is the start of an all-out offensive to regain the north, which has been held by the New Forces for two years now. The New Forces have long been suspicious of President Gbagbo's commitment to peace However, army commanders have told reporters it is. "We've started with an aerial bombardment and we will start using armoured vehicles for a terrestrial assault," Captain Jean-Noel Abbey, the head of an armoured vehicle division told Reuters. "We think we can finish the war in six days. We are going to attack all the zones where there are rebels," he said from the capital, Yamoussoukro, 100km south of Bouake. New Forces commander Cherif Ousmane told the Associated Press: "We've just been bombed. The war has started again." UN troops are stationed in Bouake, and a UN official described panic, with some residents fleeing the city and others staying indoors. Political leaders of the New Forces are reported to be in Togo at the moment. A spokesman said they planned to return as soon as possible. "The New Forces take note of the inactivity of the impartial forces deployed in Ivory Coast, especially the UN and the French forces," Sidiki Konate told Reuters. Alert Tension rose last week when a "state of maximum alert" was declared and a curfew imposed after truckloads of heavy weapons were found near Bouake. The New Forces pulled out of a long-delayed disarmament process. They said they were ready to defend themselves if a ceasefire, which has held for more than a year, was broken. Two major roads linking the loyalist south to the rebel-held north have been closed since Sunday.

---

Do you Yahoo!?
Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. www.yahoo.com_______________________________________________ Ugandanet mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/