IVORY COAST: PRESIDENT LAURENT GBAGBO SAYS HE WANTS TO DECLARE CIVIL WAR OFFICIALLY OVER

Record ID: 183490

  • Title: IVORY COAST: PRESIDENT LAURENT GBAGBO SAYS HE WANTS TO DECLARE CIVIL WAR OFFICIALLY OVER
  • Date: 19th December 2003
  • Summary: (W6) ABIDJAN, IVOAST COAST (DECEMBER 17, 2003) REUTERS) 1. MV IVORIAN PRESIDENT LAURENT GBAGBO GOING INTO MEETING ROOM; MV REBELS STAND UP; MV GBAGBO WALKING IN METING ROOM; SLV MEETING ROOM (4 SHOTS) 0.18 2. MV PRESIDENT GABGBO AND REBEL "DELI GASPAR" SHAKING HANDS 0.24 3. SCU IVORIAN OFFICER LOOKING AT COMPUTER; MV PRESIDENT GBAGBO SITTING DOWN; MV REBEL OFFICERS SITTING; SLV MEETING ROOM (4 SHOTS) 0.44 4. SOUNDBITE (French) PRESIDENT GBAGBO SAYING "I'll officially declare the end of the war in Bouake." 0.50 5. SCU JOURNALISTS 0.54 6. SOUNDBITE (French) IVORIAN PRESIDENT GBAGBO SAYING: "I am calling to all the youth of the Ivory Coast to watch us, listen and help us but not get in the way." 1.04 7. MV PRESIDENT GBAGBO STAND UP WITH IVORIAN PRIME MINISTER SEIDOU DIARRA 1.14 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 3rd January 2004 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST
  • Country: Ivory Coast
  • Reuters ID: LVA95KU31F3984RO1TXP3W3DXETY
  • Story Text: Ivory Coast's president says he wants to declare the
    civil war in his country officially over.

    Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo on Wednesday
    (December 17) said he wanted to declare the war officially
    over in Bouake and called on the youth of Ivory Coast to
    assist in the rebuilding of the country. He made the
    comments during talks with Deli Gaspar, a rebel leader.

    Despite a formal end to the war, Ivory Coast is still
    divided between a rebel-held north and a government-held
    south.

    A peace process has been bogged down by rebel political
    grievances and President Laurent Gbagbo's demand that his
    enemies disarm.

    The civil war has also inflamed ethnic tensions in the
    cocoa-rich west of the former French colony.

    Under plans agreed to reduce tension at the front, both
    sides have from December 13 to 25 to pull back heavy
    weapons.

    Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, has been
    cut in two by the front line since civil war broke out in
    September 2002 when the rebels captured the northern half
    of the country.

    Fighters from neighbouring Liberia became involved,
    prompting fears Ivory Coast could be dragged into a cycle
    of anarchic civil war that engulfed Liberia and Sierra
    Leone.

    The warring factions agreed a peace deal early in 2003
    and officially declared the war over in July, but progress
    towards disarming fighters and reuniting the country has
    been slow.

    The two sides agreed to pull back their heavy arms to
    lower the risk of new fighting despite failing to reach
    agreement on disarming fighters. Talks have stumbled on
    differences over the rebels' political influence and
    President Laurent Gbagbo's demands they lay down their guns.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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