IVORY COAST: Ivory Coast celebrates 51 years of independence, four months after violent power struggle

Record ID: 181711

  • Title: IVORY COAST: Ivory Coast celebrates 51 years of independence, four months after violent power struggle
  • Date: 8th August 2011
  • Summary: GHANA'S MILITARY BRASS BAND PLAYING DURING CEREMONY
  • Embargoed: 23rd August 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cote d'Ivoire
  • Country: Ivory Coast
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA98N6CHX394AOPR0CKCBPGVJRI
  • Story Text: Ivory Coast's newly formed army took part in a parade to mark 51 years of independence from France on Sunday (August 07, 2011).
    The celebrations come four months after a bloody post electoral crisis that paralysed the cocoa producing West African Nation.
    Alassane Ouattara, who was formally inaugurated in May, presided over the ceremony, with several other dignitaries in attendance including the French and US Ambassadors, as well as the chief UN envoy to Ivory Coast, Choi Young Jin.
    Former rebels who fought for Ouattara now form the Republican Forces of Cote d'Ivoire (FRCI), the backbone of Ivory Coast's armed forces.
    Ivory Coast was plunged into a four-month conflict after a disputed presidential election last November in which U.N.-certified results showed former president Laurent Gbagbo lost to Ouattara, but Gbagbo refused to step-down.
    The conflict, which killed about 3,000 and displaced over a million, ended in April after troops loyal to Ouattara swept through the country and ousted Gbagbo with the help of U.N. and French forces.
    France, the former colonial power in Ivory Coast with more than 1,600 troops in the country, took a lead role in efforts to persuade Gbagbo to relinquish power, infuriating his supporters who accuse Paris of neo-colonialism.
    After a long stand off between Ouattara's forces and pro Gbagbo forces, French special forces detained Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo and handed him to leaders of the rebel opposition, after French tanks forced their way into his residence.
    While French and United Nations officials acknowledge that their attacks weakened Mr. Gbagbo's defenses, helping Ouattara's forces to storm in and grab Gbagbo after a protracted standoff, they have reiterated that their actions were motivated by a mandate to protect civilians.
    Seeking to avoid the accusation that they had used force to replace one African leader with another - a suggestion that could all too easily rekindle associations with France's long interventionist history in colonial and post-colonial Africa - French officials continued to deny any involvement in Gbagbo's arrest.
    Today, many in Ivory Coast are hopeful that the country is emerging from the the effects of the bloody post election crisis and is on the path to reconstruction.
    "We are happy to see that Ivory Coast is back to normality, and one thing you have to realise is that this is the first time in ten years that we have had a ceremony that started on time and ended on time, so we are off on a good start. This will be a way for us to reach our goals, to create a more favourable environment for business, and a better environment for peace and justice," said Jean Luis Billon, an economist.
    Ouattara also honored Ivory Coast Prime Minister Guillaume Soro and Choi with medals for their work during the crisis.
    "This is an excellent beginning, and it's starting off well, and I can say to the Ivorian people that all we did was provide assistance to the Ivorian people. Long live the Ivorian people, long live democracy," said Choi.
    In seeking to reconcile a deeply divided nation, Ouattara has had to tread a fine line between pursuing Gbagbo's military top brass for alleged war crimes and forgiving others with close ties to him, but whose crimes were less serious.
    He also faces the task of breaking up armed fiefdoms and incorporating former foes into disciplined units.
    Ouattara named ex-rebel chief Soumaila Bakayoko armed forces commander this July.
    He was careful to choose a top former Gbagbo officer -- General Deto Leto -- to fill the deputy commander post.
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