IVORY COAST: Pro-Gbagbo supporters torch U.N. truck and blame peacekeeping mission for violence in Abobo

Record ID: 181701

  • Title: IVORY COAST: Pro-Gbagbo supporters torch U.N. truck and blame peacekeeping mission for violence in Abobo
  • Date: 14th January 2011
  • Summary: ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (JANUARY 13, 2011) (REUTERS) MEN JUMPING UP AND DOWN ON BURNT U.N. CAR, CROWD SHOUTING VARIOUS OF BURNT U.N. PICK UP TRUCK, YOUTHS SHOUTING "WE DON'T WANT THIS HERE" VARIOUS OF BURNT U.N. VEHICLE, MAN SPITTING ON IT CROWD GATHERED TO WATCH SCENE (SOUNDBITE) (French) MOUSSA SEKONGO, STUDENT, SAYING: "We hope things will move on so that LICORNE and ONUCI leave. If these two entities don't leave Ivory Coast, Mr President, these actions will multiply. And you will find your population on the roads, so each day that God gives they will kill us, they will kill us, until there's only one Ivorian left on the ground." CROWD SHOUTING (SOUNDBITE) (French) MAX AMANI, STUDENT, SAYING: "It's an opportunity for us to show that with our bare hands we can also take action. And this is neither the first nor the last car. But each day we hear shooting in Abobo we will burn 10 ONUCI cars." MAN WITH HIS LEG ON BURNT U.N. CAR VARIOUS OF MORE OF BURNING U.N. CAR, SOME FLAMES STILL SEEN, PEOPLE AROUND CAR VARIOUS OF UNITED NATIONS CONVOY MOVING ON ROAD
  • Embargoed: 29th January 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cote d'Ivoire
  • Country: Ivory Coast
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA6KQO4D9Q3P5S6IUFMKCVCH42J
  • Story Text: Supporters of incumbent Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo burn a U.N. truck and blame the peacekeeping mission for violence in opposition neighbourhood Abobo, as relations between Gbagbo and the U.N. deteriorate.
    Students loyal to incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo burnt a United Nations pick-up truck in Abidjan on Thursday (January 13) as they blamed the peacekeeping mission of arming opposition supporters in the Abobo neighbourhood.
    It's not clear if the truck was occupied at the time of the attack.
    Six policemen were killed in clashes over the last two days, and student members of the 'Young Patriot' movement blame the United Peacekeeping Mission in Ivory Coast (ONUCI) of orchestrating the violence.
    The Ivorian army blocked entry to U.N. peacekeepers on Wednesday night (January 12) to the Abobo area, and encircled the scene of clashes between them and supporters of Gbagbo's rival, Alassane Ouattara.
    This comes on the day the United Nations' human rights chief raised the alarm on Thursday over a suspected third mass grave in Ivory Coast.
    U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay said in Geneva Ivorian forces were blocking access to a site near the central town of Daloa where a mass grave had been reported, as they have already been accused of doing at two other sites in and around Abidjan.
    The election was meant to heal a nation divided into a government-held south and a rebel-run north by a 2002-3 war, but has instead only deepened divisions.
    More than 200 people have also died in violence since the vote, and fears of more conflict have prompted more than 20,000 people to flee into neighbouring Liberia, according to U.N. figures.
    The U.N. suspects many of the dead were killed by pro-Gbagbo security forces or allied militias in night-time raids on neighbourhoods, with hundreds more abducted.
    Gbagbo's camp has repeatedly dismissed reports of mass graves and "death squads" as fabrications by Ouattara allies.
    Many supporters loyal to Gbagbo in the streets of Abidjan are angry about the U.N. not recognising the incumbent leader as Ivorian president, and believe the peacekeeping mission is arming opposition supporters in order to oust Gbagbo.
    "We hope things will move on so that LICORNE and ONUCI leave. If these two entities don't leave Ivory Coast, Mr President, these actions will multiply. And you will find your population on the roads, so each day that God gives they will kill us, they will kill us, until there's only one Ivorian left on the ground," said Moussa Sekongo, a student in Abidjan.
    Ouattara's parallel government, operating out of a hotel under guard of U.N. peacekeepers, said Gbagbo's forces killed at least seven civilians in Wednesday's clashes.
    The crowd of young students, excited about burning the vehicle, threatened this was not going to remain an isolated incident.
    "It's an opportunity for us to show that with our bare hands we can also take action. And this is neither the first nor the last car. But each day we hear shooting in Abobo we will burn 10 ONUCI cars," said another student, Max Amani.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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