Global Policy Forum

By Thalif Deen

France, the former colonial ruler of Cote d'Ivoire, is being lambasted for manipulating the U.N. Security Council to politically and militarily isolate the West African nation, which has been ravaged by an ongoing civil war. "I think that the French military force is no longer viewed as an impartial peace broker," says Emira Woods, co-director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Washington-based Institute for Policy Studies.

She told IPS that the 52-member African Union (AU) is seen as more of an "honest broker" than the French in the current efforts to resolve the crisis in Cote d'Ivoire. "The difficult path to peace and stability would be made smoother if the U.N. mission and its mandate were broadened," Woods added.

Prompted by France, the 15-member Security Council adopted a resolution Tuesday strengthening its existing two-month-old arms embargo against Cote d'Ivoire. It authorises both the 6,200-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission (UNOCI) and the 5,000-strong French military to intercept the illegal flow of weapons to government and rebel forces. In an unusual arrangement, French troops have the right to act alone and do not come under the military authority of UNOCI.

Laurent Gbagbo, who was elected president in 2000, has accused French forces of favouring the rebels and undermining a democratically elected government. The government, in turn, is accused of breaking an 18-month-old ceasefire last November. "Ideally, there should be a French military withdrawal and the substitution of a separate peacekeeping force," Bill Fletcher Jr., president of TransAfrica Forum, told IPS The French are "too tainted" by their historic neo-colonial relationship to Cote d'Ivoire. "The French clearly have an interest in retaining their role as the hegemonic power over their former colonies," he added.

Addressing a U.N. press conference last month, Ambassador Philippe Djangone-Bi of Cote d'Ivoire told reporters that the Security Council should integrate the French force into UNOCI. "The sooner unified command and action was achieved, the sooner UNOCI would succeed in its actions," he added. If unified command is applied to most U.N. peacekeeping missions, "why is Cote d'Ivoire an exception?" he asked.

A Washington-based group that calls itself Friends of Democratic Governments says that colonial rule in Cote d'Ivoire ended more than 40 years ago, "but France and its embedded corporate interests refuse to let go." "The same French government that opposed 'regime change' in Iraq is using its influence in the United Nations to undermine a democratically-elected president in West Africa," the group says in its website. It also says that Gbagbo launched a progressive agenda for improving education and health care and "pledged to free the country of the stranglehold of French corporations over the nation's economy...(and) that set off alarm bells in Paris." It argues that the French-initiated U.N. arms embargo against Cote d'Ivoire, which was imposed in November last year, is "depriving the government of the weapons it needs to defend and unite the country."

Last November, France destroyed the country's entire air force in response to what it called a "deliberate attack on French troops" by Ivorian soldiers. Djangone-Bi, the country's U.N. envoy, told reporters that there is widespread speculation that France is also leading an effort to impose economic sanctions on Cote d'Ivoire. "The practice of France initiating actions concerning Cote d'Ivoire in the Security Council should end," he added.

The proposed sanctions also come at a time when South African President Thabo Mbeki is leading an African Union effort to negotiate a peaceful settlement of the civil war, which has divided the country between the government-held south and rebel-held north. "The United Nations should not impose sanctions at this time in the midst of President Mbeki's mediation effort," Fletcher said. On the other hand, he noted, the United Nations should respect the work of the AU in working through this complicated situation. Woods said that the AU has a lot on its plate just now -- in particular, the crises in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Darfur, Sudan. "Cote D'Ivoire must be seen as a test for both the AU and the international community. Mbeki's efforts should be given a chance to succeed. This may bring a more lasting path to peace, particularly as the elections, scheduled for October, draw nearer," she added.

Woods said some of the more difficult questions relating to disarmament, citizenship criteria, constitutional reform, and resource rights must also be dealt with. "The African Union is well positioned to broker these thorny questions and help all Ivorians find the path to peace," she added. Woods also said that there should be an arms embargo imposed on both sides, but the AU peace initiatives should be given full political and financial support by all members of the Security Council.

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