IVORY COAST: Thousands of Ivory Coast's young patriots celebrate the third anniversary of the resistance against the civil war that erupted in 2002

Record ID: 182489

  • Title: IVORY COAST: Thousands of Ivory Coast's young patriots celebrate the third anniversary of the resistance against the civil war that erupted in 2002
  • Date: 3rd October 2005
  • Summary: ARMED SOLDIER
  • Embargoed: 18th October 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAAOTXJ6QSQ6S98F0DZSLFQ3M86
  • Story Text: Thousands of Ivory Coast's young patriots celebrated on Sunday (October 2) in the southern town of Agboville a meeting to mark the third anniversary of the resistance against the civil war that erupted in September 2002.
    In October 2, 2002 about one million of patriots demonstrated in Abidjan to denounce the attack the north of the country by rebels.
    "I call all free African leaders, democrats and progressivists to rebel and take position for Ivory Coast," said Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo.
    "They say that for the future of the Ivory Coast I lead this battle, that I resist, so that tomorrow coups d'etat no longer happen in Ivory Coast, or in Africa," Gbagbo added.
    The African Union will consider recommending changes in the composition of the Ivory Coast government if elections are not held next month, Nigeria said on Friday (September 30).
    After a West African summit in Nigeria, Foreign Minister Oluyemi Adeniji said there were three options for regional powers if the poll did not take place on Oct. 30 as scheduled, but that pressing for a totally new transitional government would be an "extreme option".
    Gbagbo, who snubbed the Abuja talks, said this week that elections could not be held because rebels, who have controlled the north of the world's top cocoa grower since a civil war in 2002, had failed to disarm.
    He also said he had no intention of stepping down to open the way for a pre-election transition as the rebels had demanded.
    Once an oasis of relative wealth and peace in turbulent West Africa, the former French colony was split in two by the civil war, which damaged its economy and strained relations with its neighbours.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register