IVORY COAST: FRENCH ARMY SHIP "LE LITO" ARRIVES AT ABIDJAN BRINGING ENGINEERING EQUIPMENT AND LOGISTICAL SUPPORT FOR THE U.N. MISSION.

Record ID: 183550

  • Title: IVORY COAST: FRENCH ARMY SHIP "LE LITO" ARRIVES AT ABIDJAN BRINGING ENGINEERING EQUIPMENT AND LOGISTICAL SUPPORT FOR THE U.N. MISSION.
  • Date: 10th May 2004
  • Summary: (W1) ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (MAY 10, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WS: FRENCH ARMY SHIP 'LE LITO' IN PORT. 0.04 2. MV: UNITED NATIONS ARMOURED VEHICLES WITH U.N. SIGN. 0.08 3. CU: TRUCK TOWING CONTAINER. 0.10 4. CU: TRUCK LEAVING SHIP. 0.19 5. WS: SOLDIER GUIDING TRUCKS. 0.22 6. MLV: TRUCJ LEAVING HOLD OF SHIP. 0.26 7. MV:U.N. SOLDIERS IN SHORTS STANDING AROUND. 0.31 8. WS: U.N. TRUCKS ON DOCKSIDE. 0.34 9. WS: U.N. TRUCK LEAVING PORT OF ABIDJAN. 0.45 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 25th May 2004 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ABIDJAN, IVORY-COAST
  • Country: Ivory Coast
  • Reuters ID: LVAB875BHI52HI6VR4ZX1TOCK3FR
  • Story Text: French army ship "le Lito" arrives in Abidjan,
    bringing in engineering equipment logistical support for
    U.N. mission in Ivory Coast.



    The French army ship 'le Lito' has arrived in
    Abidjan, bringing in engineering equipment as part of
    logistical support for ONUCI (the United Nations mission in
    the Ivory Coast).

    The ship left the French port of le Havre on April 30,
    arriving in Abidjan on Monday (May 10), bringing equipment
    for the 5th engineering battalion.

    Making the journey were 145 men from the unit
    specialising in horizontal structures and roads.

    The U.N. mission in the African country is taking place
    in the midst of a political storm, with the bulk of its
    blue helmets still to deploy.

    Analysts say the U.N. force of around 2,000 which this
    week should be reinforced by another 600 troops, now faces
    even more of an uphill struggle to put a deadlocked peace
    process back on track.

    Ivorian authorities are livid over last week's leak of
    a damning U.N. report accusing security forces and militias
    loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo of killing scores of
    civilians in a crackdown on a banned opposition rally in
    March.

    Gbagbo's camp at first put the blame on the foreign
    media which published the report, yet to be officially
    released, but quickly accused the U.N. of helping rebels
    who still hold the northern half of the country to
    undermine the president.

    Pro-Gbagbo youth leaders who repeatedly orchestrated
    violent anti-French riots last year have given the
    peacekeepers until the end of this month to disarm the
    rebels or else "we will not be responsible for what happens
    to blue helmets."
    For the time being the peacekeepers seem unlikely to be
    able to do much to break the impasse. Their mandate is
    essentially limited to monitoring a ceasefire and helping -
    but not forcing - combatants to disarm.

    Some 700 Bangladesh and 700 Moroccan troops and
    equipment are due to arrive in Abidjan later in May. The
    United Nations has authorised 6,240 U.N. peacekeepers and
    150 civilian police to patrol front lines with some 4,000
    French troops, who operate under a separate command.

    Ivory Coast's civil war grew out of an attempted coup
    against Gbagbo in September 2002. Thousands of people were
    killed and about a million were forced from their homes.

    The war was declared over last July after all sides
    agreed to the French-brokered plan. But the peace process
    has stalled, and the country remains split between a
    rebel-held north and a south controlled by forces loyal to
    Gbagbo.


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