IVORY COAST: PATRIOTIC MOVEMENT OF IVORY COAST REBELS SIGN A WEST AFRICAN-BROKERED CEASEFIRE

Record ID: 183678

  • Title: IVORY COAST: PATRIOTIC MOVEMENT OF IVORY COAST REBELS SIGN A WEST AFRICAN-BROKERED CEASEFIRE
  • Date: 17th October 2002
  • Summary: (W6) BOUAKE, IVORY COAST (OCTOBER 17, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF SIGNING OF CEASEFIRE (2 SHOTS) 0.17 2. MV: REBELS AND FRENCH SOLDIER 0.20 3. SV: SENEGALESE FOREIGN MINISTER, CHEIKH TIDIANE GAGIO AND REBEL COMMANDER TUO FOZIE SHAKING HANDS 0.29 4. SCU: SOUNDBITE (French) GAGIO, SAYING: "We were seeking to obtain the cessation of hostilities, that is to say an effective ceasefire." 0.40 5. SV: FRENCH SOLDIERS 0.44 6. SCU: SOUNDBITE (French) GAGIO, SAYING: "This which is included in the agreement was duly signed by our counterparts here who give their agreement for an end of hostilities so that dialogue and negotiations can start as soon as possible with the Ivory Coast government." 1.01 7. SV: GAGIO AND FOZIE SHAKING HANDS 1.05 (W8) ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (OCTOBER 17, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 8. VARIOUS OF WEST AFRICAN MEDIATORS AT A HOTEL AFTER RETURNING FROM SIGNING A CEASEFIRE WITH REBELS 1.09 9. CU: THE IVORY COAST FLAG AS A BADGE 1.13 10. SV: A MEDIATOR 1.17 11. CU: DIPLOMATS 1.21 12. SCU: SOUNDBITE (French) CHEIKH TIDIANE GADIO, SENEGAL FOREIGN MINISTER, SAYING: "There are friendly countries - I'd like to call them that with your permission but don't want to give further details - who will on the ground try to guarantee the agreement immediately, from midnight, and do everything so that everybody respect the ceasefire and we can consolidate it." 1.40 13. SV: DIPLOMATS AT THE MEETING 1.44 14. SCU: SOUNDBITE (English) MOHAMED IBN CHAMBAS, HEAD OF THE ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES, SAYING: "We are hoping as early as Tuesday to work out the details and put into place a monitoring group to assure that the forces remain apart." 2.01 (W5) NEAR BOUAKE, IVORY COAST (OCTOBER 17, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 15. SLV/SV: REBEL CONVOY IN PICK-UP GOING FOR TRAINING (2 SHOTS) 2.16 16. SLV: REBEL RECRUITS GET OFF TRUCKS/ HEAD INTO BUSH 2.21 17. VARIOUS: REBEL COMMANDER SHERIF OUSMAN ADDRESSING APPROXIMATELY 200 TROOPS BEFORE TRAINING SESSION (3 SHOTS) 2.41 18. SCU: ARMED REBEL WEARING MASK 2.46 19. SV: REBEL INSTRUCTOR FIRING INTO AIR WITH MACHINE GUN TO MOTIVATE TROOPS 2.54 20. SV: REBELS CRAWLING IN BUSH WITH REAL ROUNDS FIRED OVER THEIR HEADS 3.03 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 1st November 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BOUAKE AND ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST
  • Country: Ivory Coast
  • Reuters ID: LVAACX4DVPYGORO59R0W1J11TIP7
  • Story Text: Ivory Coast's rebels have signed a West African-brokered
    ceasefire that the government had already
    agreed in principle to halt a four-week-old war that
    threatened regional catastrophe.



    Warrant Officer Tuo Fozie, a commander of the Patriotic
    Movement of Ivory Coast signed the agreement on Thursday
    (October 17) for the rebels in their stronghold of Bouake, 360
    km (225 miles) north of the main city of Abidjan.

    Hundreds have died in fighting and tens of thousands have
    fled to escape the conflict that has intensified ethnic
    bitterness in a country divided between a largely Christian
    south and a Muslim north that complains of discrimination.

    The rebels kept hold of most of the north after failing to
    seize power in a September 19 coup. They have demanded the
    departure of President Laurent Gbagbo and the organisation of
    free and fair elections.

    Senegalese Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio said the
    deal, details of which were not made public, provided for a
    ceasefire from midnight (0001 GMT) which would be monitored by
    a West African "surveillance force".

    Gadio told reporters the rebels had given "their agreement
    for an end of hostilities so that dialogue and negotiations
    can start as soon as possible with with the Ivory Coast
    government."
    Various West African mediators returned to a hotel in
    Abidjan for a news conference following the signing.

    Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the head of the Economic Community of
    West African states, said he was optimistic about plans to
    maintain peace.

    "We are hoping as early as Tuesday (October 22) to work
    out the details and put into place a monitoring group to
    assure that the forces remain apart."
    As news of the signing of a peace deal emerged on Thursday
    (October 17), rebels continued their training in the bush 20
    kilometres north of Bouake.

    The rebels seem to have no shortage of ammunition, and
    live rounds are used during the training.

    The rebel soldiers seem disciplined and motivated.

    From the start of their uprising a month ago, they have
    tried hard to project an image that sets them apart from the
    drugged up, brutal gangsters of wars in nearby Sierra Leone
    and Liberia.

    At least four alleged thieves have been executed by the
    rebels over the past two weeks, one of them just a few metres
    away from a group of foreign reporters. He was accused of
    having stolen a fan.

    Particularly hard for the rebels has been trying to break
    the idea that they are northerners representing the interests
    of the largely Muslim region from where many of them originate
    -- including all the spokesmen to appear so far.


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