- Title: IVORY COAST: REFUGEES ARRIVE AT FRENCH CHECKPOINT AFTER FLEEING REBEL-HELD AREAS.
- Date: 21st January 2003
- Summary: (U7) DUEKOUE, IVORY COAST (JANUARY 20, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV: IVORIAN DISPLACED PEOPLE ON ROAD 0.04 2. MV/SV: FRENCH TROOPS (2 SHOTS) 0.12 3. GV: CHILD ON ROAD 0.17 4. TV/GV/CU: DISPLACED PEOPLE WITH BUNDLES ON THEIR HEADS (3 SHOTS) 0.35 5. GV/MV: REFUGEES WITH SOLDIER; SOLDIER BY TYRE (2 SHOTS) 0.43 6. MV/PAN: SOLDIERS ASK DISPLACED PEOPLE QUESTIONS 0.53 7. MCU: SOUNDBITE (French) IVORY HONORE VODE SAYING THE SO CALLED IVORIAN REBELS ARE NOT IVORIAN - THEY ARE LIBERIANS WHO ARE THREATENING US THAT IS WHY WE ARE FLEEING OUR VILLAGES TO COME HERE. 1.05 8. GV/MV: FRENCH TROOPS LOOK AT ROCKET PROPELLED GRENADE (3 SHOTS) 1.22 9. GV: PEOPLE LOOK OVER BARBED WIRE FENCE 1.26 10. GV: SANDBAGGED POSITION BY CHEKPOINT 1.30 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 5th February 2003 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: DUEKOUE, IVORY COAST
- Country: Ivory Coast
- Reuters ID: LVA38XXXPNWZIYGZ8XQUNC5I0GVS
- Story Text: Displaced Ivorian people have been arriving at a French
checkpoint in Duekoue after fleeing rebel-held areas.
Displaced people fleeing rebel-held areas of the Ivory
Coast have
been arriving at a French checkpoint in Duekoue in the western
part of the country.
Before a truce allowed peace talks to start last week,
French soldiers killed dozens of rebels in failed attempts by
the insurgents to take Duekoue -- a strategic junction in
Ivory Coast's cocoa-rich west.
Without Duekoue, the rebels have little hope of advancing
towards the main city of Abidjan and overthrowing President
Laurent Gbagbo, their target in a war that has split the
country since a failed September 19 coup.
The main rebel faction holds the northern half of Ivory
Coast, but two others sprang up in the west late in November
and took several towns from Gbagbo's forces before the French
effectively blocked their advance at Duekoue.
France has committed 2,500 troops to Ivory Coast to
protect foreigners and prevent the conflict spiralling further
out of control in a country where it has some 20,000 citizens.
At Duekoue, that means stopping the rebels and the
mercenaries from anarchic Liberia who fight on their side.
On Monday (January 20) crack French Foreign Legion troops
questioned the displaced Ivorians about Liberian involvement
in the rebel cause.
Despite an agreement with the French that they would pull
back to a village nine km (six miles) from Duekoue, the rebels
have set up their checkpoint only 600 metres (yards) from the
French lines.
The French say that when the rebels launched their last
attack -- on January 6 -- they did so after advancing with a
white flag in a sign of peace. French troops killed 30 rebels
in the ensuing firefight. Five French soldiers were wounded.
Now, the positions have been strengthened and deep bush by
the sides of the road cleared to prevent anyone creeping up
and ambushing the French, who have 175-strong contingent --
mostly legionnaires -- to protect Duekoue.
Not all appeared convinced of how long France would be
able to remain committed to holding out against the rebels and
drug-stoked Liberians, often teenagers, who attack without
fear.
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