IVORY COAST: Ivory coast's Abidjan is getting back to normal after four days of riots against U.N. and French peacekeepers.

Record ID: 182547

  • Title: IVORY COAST: Ivory coast's Abidjan is getting back to normal after four days of riots against U.N. and French peacekeepers.
  • Date: 20th January 2006
  • Summary: WIDE OF BURNT OUT VEHICLE OVERTURNED IN STREET
  • Embargoed: 4th February 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1CGUZKUDZUJ0FK6AQB12NC6ZK
  • Story Text: Shops, businesses and schools re-opened and buses and taxis ran in Ivory Coast's main city Abidjan on Friday (January 20) as the city started getting back to normal after four days of riots against U.N. and French peacekeepers.
    Pro-government youths, who were demanding the pullout of the foreign troops, withdrew barricades from the streets and ended violent protests outside U.N. and French bases following a call from President Laurent Gbagbo and pro-Gbagbo youth leaders.
    Road blocks that had been manned by hundreds of youths fiercely loyal to Gbagbo known as "Young Patriots" were cleared away and taxis and public transport took workers to their jobs across the lagoon-side city. France's consulate in the former French colony said the situation appeared to be getting back to normal. The West African state, the world's top cocoa grower, has been split since a 2002 civil war between a rebel-held north and a government-controlled south and the U.N. and foreign mediators have been struggling to implement a disarmament programme and organise elections. This week's riots, triggered by a recommendation by foreign mediators to dissolve the national parliament dominated by Gbagbo loyalists, had threatened to derail a U.N. peace plan that foresees elections being held by the end of October. The U.N. Security Council on Thursday renewed threats to slap sanctions on rebel and government leaders who block the peace process, but stopped short of taking action.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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