IVORY COAST: UN patrols receive mixed reactions from residents as crisis continues

Record ID: 181676

  • Title: IVORY COAST: UN patrols receive mixed reactions from residents as crisis continues
  • Date: 28th December 2010
  • Summary: ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (DECEMBER 27, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF UNITED NATIONS (UN) BANGLADESHI PEACEKEEPERS ON THE TOP OF UN ARMOURED VEHICLE MOVING IN ABIDJAN STREET UNITED NATIONS FLAG WITH THE CITY IN THE BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF UN PEACEKEEPERS ON THE TOP OF THE ARMOURED VEHICLE (SOUNDBITE) (French) RENE KOUAME KOUAKOU, ABIDJAN CITIZEN, SAYING: "We need to dialogue in order to find a solution. We need to be able to find a peaceful solution; the hard way will fix it nothing.'' MORE OF PATROL SOUNDBITE (French) ABIDJAN RESIDENT, FATIGA MATARI, SAYING "The UN is not doing its job; the UN force is not a party (politics). It is a force to be neutral, to keep peace in the country but we feel that they are the ones who are tiring us. They must leave, they must leave.'' UN PEACEKEEPERS STAND ON THE ROAD NEAR PEOPLE WALKING VARIOUS OF UN PEACEKEEPERS TALKING WITH PEOPLE (SOUNDBITE) (French) UNIDENTIFIED ABIDJAN RESIDENT, SAYING: "To me the solution is not to make them leave. Together we must find a solution and that's all. Otherwise it is not a solution to get them out." MORE OF PATROL
  • Embargoed: 12th January 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cote d'Ivoire
  • Country: Ivory Coast
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVABWA5Z47F2O69YMWANSU46INA5
  • Story Text: With west African nations threatening to find a military solution to a political impasse in Ivory Coast and with two local armies, one a rebel force in the north of the country and another under the command of the incumbent Laurent Gbagbo and with French troops stationed close by, the United Nations peacekeeping force in Ivory Coast is under huge pressure.
    A patrol through the streets of the commercial capital Abidjan on Monday (December 27) showed a city emerging from more than a week of civil strife and widespread fear after Gbagbo failed to heed the outcome of a November 28 poll run-off between himself and Alassane Ouattara.
    Few in the city paid heed to a call by Ouattara for a general strike on Monday; instead many people were out stocking up after a Christmas period spent largely indoors.
    Despite their fears, residents in the streets seemed confident enough to pass judgement on the job done by United Nations force (UNOCI, or the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire), so far.
    "UN is not doing its job; the UN force is not a party (politics). It is a force to be neutral, to keep peace in the country but we feel that they are the ones who are tiring us. They must leave, they must leave,'' shouted Abidjan resident Fatiga Matari.
    "To me the solution is not to make them leave. Together we must find a solution and that's all. Otherwise it is not a solution to get them out," Another resident who declined to be named said.
    Ivory Coast, the world's largest cocoa exporter, was split by civil war in 2002 into a Government-controlled south and a rebel-held north. UNOCI has been supporting reunification efforts, of which November's vote, which was delayed for five years, was a crucial step.
    The UN Security Council on December 20 renewed the mandate of the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) until 30 June 2011.
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