IVORY COAST: Muslims hope holy month of Ramadan will encourage reconciliation after a disputed election plunged the country into months of civil war

Record ID: 181707

  • Title: IVORY COAST: Muslims hope holy month of Ramadan will encourage reconciliation after a disputed election plunged the country into months of civil war
  • Date: 2nd August 2011
  • Summary: ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (JULY 28, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MOSQUE, MUEZZIN CALLING FOR PRAYERS VARIOUS OF IMAMS READING KORAN INSIDE THE MOSQUE ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (JULY 29, 2011) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF MOSQUE VARIOUS IMAM EL HADJ DJIGUIBA CISSE PRAYING WITH OTHER MUSLIMS INSIDE THE MOSQUE (SOUNDBITE) (French) IMAM EL HADJ DJIGUIBA CISSE SAYING: "This is the first Ramadan since the end of the crisis. It's an opportunity, it's divine grace that this happy coincidence is taking place. We are emerging from difficult times to walk towards Allah, to search for more spiritual substance, which we need to be able to forgive each other, in order to achieve true reconciliation and to join together and live as a community." ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (AUGUST 01, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE BUYING FOOD IN MARKET (SOUNDBITE) (French) SALIMATA SOUMAHORO, ABIDJAN RESIDENT SAYING: "If my husband was unemployed and was not working, for this month of fasting, I don't know how we would deal with it, it's complicated, it's too expensive." VARIOUS OF FOOD PRODUCE ON DISPLAY IN THE MARKET (SOUNDBITE) (French) ADAMA TRAORE, ABIDJAN RESIDENT SAYING: "The crisis has made things difficult, not just food at the market. The minister of trade said that they have reduced the price of sugar. But I have yet to see if the price of sugar has gone down. For me the price of sugar is still the same. Sugar used to cost 400 CFA (0.86 US dollars) and if they say that they are reducing the prize it would be at 400 CFA (0.86 US dollars) but it is still at 900 CFA (1.93 US dollars)." STREET SCENE VARIOUS OF DAMAGED BUILDINGS WITH BULLET HOLES ON THE WALLS TREICHVILLE MOSQUE
  • Embargoed: 17th August 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cote d'Ivoire
  • Country: Ivory Coast
  • Topics: Domestic Politics,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA4I4BZ9ZL2A5ED77J83GFX5NZ8
  • Story Text: The holy month of Ramadan this year brings with it great expectations for Muslims in Ivory Coast.
    The country is trying to recover from a violent post-election conflict that plunged the West African nation into war after former President Laurent Gbagbo refused to cede power and used a medley of soldiers, young militias and mercenaries to crush his rival, Alassane Ouattara.
    Muslims see Ramadan this year as an opportunity for Ivorians to reconcile and put the conflict behind them.
    During Ramadan, Muslims abstain from food, water and smoking from dawn till dusk and they focus on spirituality, piety and above all generosity and charity.
    The power struggle between Gbagbo and Ouattara rekindled differences that the November 28 election was supposed to resolve, killing 3,000 people and displacing more than a million until Gbagbo was captured by French-backed pro-Ouattara forces in April.
    In mosques across Ivory Coast's economic capital of Abidjan, muslim religious leaders marked the start of Ramadan with calls for peace and forgiveness.
    "This is the first Ramadan since the end of the crisis. It's an opportunity, it's divine grace that this happy coincidence is taking place. We are emerging from difficult times to walk towards Allah, to search for more spiritual substance, which we need to be able to forgive each other, in order to achieve true reconciliation and to join together and live as a community," said Muslim cleric Imam El Hadj Djiguba Cisse.
    Muslims make up around 40 percent of the native Ivorian population and three quarters of the immigrant population in Ivory Coast are Muslims, often referred to as Dioulas, the name of one of the country's Muslim ethnic groups.
    Definitions of ethnicity and religious belief are often blurred in Ivory Coast, where Christians have long dominated the political leadership.
    For example, the 2002-2003 civi war pitted northern and western ethnic groups against the south.
    Most northerners are Muslim and most Southerners are Christians.
    Although experts say the country's economy is on the road to stability after the four month crisis, many Muslims say they are struggling with the high costs of food, which they say is worse this year.
    "If my husband was unemployed and was not working, for this month of fasting, I don't know how we would deal with it, it's complicated, it's too expensive," said one Abidjan's resident Salimata Soumahoro.
    "The crisis has made things difficult, not just food at the market. The minister of trade said that they have reduced the price of sugar. But I have yet to see if the price of sugar has gone down. For me the price of sugar is still the same. Sugar used to cost 400 CFA (0.86 US dollars) and if they say that they are reducing the prize it would be at 400 CFA (0.86 US dollars) but it is still at 900 CFA (1.93 US dollars)," said Adama Traore in Abidjan.
    Ivory Coast faces tough challenges such as the need to restore security, kickstart the economy and foster genuinely inclusive politics.
    It will take longer than a month to right what went wrong in Ivory Coast but the Muslim community hope that the lessons emphasized during this holy time will carry on and spread across the country.
    Last week, Ouattara signed a decree establishing a commission of inquiry into crimes committed during the country's violent post-election turmoil, giving it six months to reach conclusions.
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