- Title: IVORY COAST: PEOPLE COMMEMORATE THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF CIVIL WAR WITH PEACE CONCERT
- Date: 20th September 2005
- Summary: (BN01) ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (SEPTEMBER 20, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. CROWD SINGING AT STADIUM 2. CROWD AND STAGE IN BACKGROUND 3. IVORY COAST FLAG FLOATING; BATS PASSING BY 4. CROWD DANCING 5. VARIOUS OF GROUP 'NIGUISAFF CADENCE' ON STAGE, DANCING 'MAPOUKA' 6. CROWD SINGING AND DANCING 7. VARIOUS OF JOHN YALLEY, SINGER OF IVORIAN POP MUSIC, ON STAGE 8. CROWD DANCING 9. (SOUNDBITE) (French) GUY CINPHORIEN OKOU, ABIDJAN RESIDENT, SAYING: "I am telling our brothers in the North, in the centre and in the South that we are one. We shouldn't kill each other. We need to unite to build up Ivory Coast." 10. CONCERT 1.08 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 5th October 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST
- Country: Ivory Coast
- Reuters ID: LVA8PEOKFVFZT2QT0JLT7F7QJLN3
- Story Text: Ivorians recall start of war with peace concert.
A free peace concert was held in Abidjan on Tuesday
(September 20) as the Ivory Coast marked the third anniversary
of a crippling civil war.
The crowd danced to the music of group 'Niguisaff Cadence' and Ivorian pop singer John Yalley.
The concert was part of a series of events to commemorate the beginning of political trouble.
''I am telling our brothers in the North, in the centre and in the
South that we are one. We shouldn't kill each other. We need to unite to build up Ivory Coast,'' said concert goer Guy Cinphorien Okou.
A three-day Laughter Festival was also organised to show a lighter side of the power struggle that erupted on September 19, 2002, and robbed Ivory Coast of its reputation as a beacon of prosperity and stability in West Africa.
Although actual fighting in the civil war was brief, it cut the world's top cocoa producer into government and rebel-held zones and poverty and crime have risen sharply.
Presidential elections set for Oct. 30 are likely to be postponed,
prompting fresh efforts by African leaders to shore up a faltering peace process and prevent a resurgence of violence.
President Laurent Gbagbo, who hopes to renew his mandate at the
elections, called for calm at the weekend and said he would remain in power in the event that the polls were postponed.
Rebel and opposition leaders demand he should step down on Oct. 30
anyway and hand over to a transitional government.
Nigerian President and African Union (AU) head Olusegun Obasanjo told the United Nations on Saturday the African diplomatic body would review South Africa's peace mediation in Ivory Coast, which has come under fire in recent weeks.
Ivory Coast's West African neighbours, fearing a resurgence of war
there would be a disaster for the region, were being asked to contribute proposals, Obasanjo said. The AU's Peace and Security Council would meet next month to study the proposals.
While the politicians haggle, ordinary people long for a return to the peace and prosperity the former French colony enjoyed for decades after independence in 1960.
Religious groups, professionals and students are also trying to promote peace. Christian music group "Chantres Unis" (Chanters in Unison) is touring the country offering singing marathons for peace.
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