IVORY COAST: Violence flares as pressure grows on President Laurent Gbagbo

Record ID: 182091

  • Title: IVORY COAST: Violence flares as pressure grows on President Laurent Gbagbo
  • Date: 23rd February 2010
  • Summary: TOUMODI, IVORY COAST (FEBRUARY 22, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS IN PICKUP TRUCKS WITH CROWDS OF PROTESTERS IN BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF CROWDS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING THROUGH TOWN CENTRE (SOUNDBITE) (French) REPUBLICAN PARTY (RDR) REPRESENTATIVE, AMOIN TAMINI, SAYING: "We can't stay any longer with our arms crossed, that's why we are taking to the streets in Toumodi, and every time we come out we ask for the peace to come back in Ivory Coast, so that we can go to elections. We want elections, we want to free Ivory coast, free the Ivorians. We've had enough." CROWDS MARCHING CROWDS MARCHING, POLICE ROAD BLOCK IN BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF POLICE ROAD BLOCKS, POLICE BLOCKING ROAD WITH CARS CROWDS OF PROTESTERS FACING POLICE ROAD BLOCKS POLICE IN RIOT GEAR (SOUNDBITE) (French) MAID AND PROTESTER, BEATRICE KOUAME, SAYING: "We want to have true elections, so they can stop hassling us, they've now delayed the elections five times." POLICE CAR GOING TOWARDS ROAD BLOCK ROAD BLOCK MADE OF TABLES, FURNITURE VARIOUS OF POLICEMAN CLEARING ROAD BLOCK ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (FEBRUARY 22, 2010) (REUTERS) PRINCIPAL MEDIATOR, BURKINA FASO PRESIDENT BLAISE COMPAORE GETTING OUT OF PLANE AT ABIDJAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT PRESIDENTIAL GUARD SOLDIER STANDING COMPAORE AND IVORY COAST PRESIDENT LAURENT GBAGBO WALKING TOGETHER TO CAR PEOPLE AT NEWSPAPER KIOSK
  • Embargoed: 10th March 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABGECGJR1FRFHZSOQKGIQ570QR
  • Story Text: Anti-government protests sweep Ivory Coast as a mediator flies in, urging President Laurent Gbagbo to get the peace process back on track.
    Thousands of anti-government demonstrators marched in towns throughout Ivory Coast on Monday (February 22), asking for elections and a new government to be announced.
    In some areas, including the western cocoa hub Daloa, witnesses described protesters burning tyres and pelting soldiers and police with stones as security forces drove them back with tear gas.
    In Toumodi, south of the capital, at least 2,000 protesters marched peacefully as police and soldiers kept watch.
    Protests have erupted almost daily in the world's top cocoa grower since President Laurent Gbagbo dissolved his government and the electoral commission on February 12.
    Republican Party representative in Toumodi, Amoin Tamini, said they were taking to the streets to demand elections, which have been delayed for years.
    "We want to free Ivory coast, free the Ivorians. We've had enough," she said.
    A maid from Toumodi, Beatrice Kouame, was equally clear what was needed.
    "We want to have true elections, so they can stop hassling us, they've now delayed the elections five times," she said.
    Police in riot gear set up roadblocks in the town.
    International pressure on Gbagbo is mounting.
    Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaore, the mediator in Ivory Coast's conflict, arrived in Abidjan on Monday (February 22) for talks.
    The opposition has called for mass action to continue until Gbagbo reinstates the electoral commission, which he dissolved after accusing its chief of illegally adding names to the electoral register to boost the opposition vote.
    Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, a rebel during the civil war, had been due to form a new government last Saturday. His aides say he's likely to announce it on Monday.
    Some Ivorians think Soro should just announce the government without taking into account opposition requests and don' t think it will destabilise the country.
    Ivorian cocoa output has not been impacted by the protests, according to exporters.
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