Global Policy Forum

By Ange Aboa and Peter Murphy

Pro-government militia attacked rebel fighters in western Ivory Coast on Monday in the first outbreak of hostilities since forces loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo bombed rebel towns in November. The rebels said the clashes had sounded the death knell for international efforts to end an on-off civil war in the world's top cocoa grower.

U.N. forces said they had intervened "to restore order", but gave no details on how this was done. They gave no information on casualties, but one pro-government militia leader said one of his fighters had been killed in the battle. The fighting erupted around 4 a.m. (0400 GMT) in Logouale, 55 km (34 miles) north of Duekoue and on the rebel side of a buffer zone policed by peacekeepers, the United Nations and fighters said. "The zone is under control now and calm has been restored," U.N. spokesman Hamadoun Toure said.

Ivory Coast has been divided between a rebel-held north and government south since a rebellion in September 2002 sparked a civil war that killed thousands and displaced more than a million. The November attacks shattered an 18-month truce and showed the fragility of a two-year peace process. There has been growing speculation that fighting might resume in the west.

The rebel New Forces have refused to disarm until political reforms agreed in a January 2003 deal are in place while Gbagbo says peacekeepers should disarm them first. Toure said 68 captured fighters had been handed over to rebels as the United Nations did not have a mandate to hold prisoners.

U.N. officials did not say whether the captured fighters were rebels or militia, but rebels said earlier they had taken 70 militia fighters in the clash. There are 2,700 U.N. troops from Bangladesh deployed in Ivory Coast's west near the border with Liberia, part of a 6,000-strong force of blue helmets in the West African country.

A spokesman for the New Forces, Sidiki Konate, said their troops were on maximum alert after the attack. "By these acts of war, Laurent Gbagbo has definitively buried all the mediation efforts of the African Union and the international community," Konate said in a statement issued in the northern rebel stronghold of Bouake. Cocoa futures traded in London and New York raced to their highest levels since early December on fears supply could be disrupted.

Lawless West

Despite the rebel statement, a spokesman for South African President Thabo Mbeki insisted the "alleged" incident would not have any bearing on the peace process. Mbeki is the latest African leader to try to end the stalemate in the former French colony. "As far as we can see we are on course. I don't think we should allow the alleged incident to derail a peace process that is gathering momentum," spokesman Bheki Khumalo said, adding that mediators would go to Ivory Coast in the next few days.

There are 4,000 French troops helping the U.N. police a ceasefire zone between the belligerents. Monday's fighting took place north of the zone after militia crossed the truce line. "We started fighting with the rebels in Logouale this morning," said Felix Maho, head of administration for the pro-Gbagbo FLGO militia based in the western town of Guiglo. He confirmed the fighting had stopped by early afternoon.

Fighters from the FLGO militia previously fought alongside Gbagbo's forces in the west. A second pro-government militia, known as UPRGO, said it was also involved in Monday's fighting. Its leader, General Bahou Plou, said one militia fighter had been killed. A source at an Ivory Coast command centre in Yamoussoukro said the attack was nothing to do with the armed forces.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C íŸ 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.