Global Policy Forum

Hostile mobs continue to block the movement of United Nations peacekeepers and other UN officials in Cote d'Ivoire, spurring Secretary General Kofi Annan over the weekend to urge Ivorians to back off. In only the latest in a string of incidents, menacing crowds in Gagnoa - a city in the government-controlled southwest of Cote d'Ivoire - last week blocked UN civilian workers as well as military observers trying to enter the town.

The incidents came just after President Laurent Gbagbo called on the population to allow the UN operation in Cote d'Ivoire (ONUCI) to carry out its work unimpeded. In his daily briefing on Friday, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said he welcomed Gbagbo's declaration but "regrets that ONUCI still does not enjoy the full freedom of movement required to effectively carry out its mandate."

ONUCI peacekeepers are in the country to monitor a ceasefire between government forces and rebels and help with a programme of disarmament following a failed coup in September 2002 that left the country divided between a government controlled south and rebel-held north. But the peace process has repeatedly stumbled and deadlines have been missed, raising doubts about whether this one-time oasis of stability and prosperity in West Africa will be able to hold presidential elections on October 30 as scheduled and escape a devastating cycle of conflict.

On Thursday crowds ransacked the vehicle of unarmed ONUCI military observers, who were forced to take refuge in a local government office until UN peacekeeping troops could rescue them, ONUCI spokesperson Hamadoun Toure told IRIN on Monday from the commercial capital, Abidjan. This was a day after angry crowds blocked two UN civilian legal experts from entering Gagnoa, Gbagbo's birthplace and historically a stronghold of the ruling Ivorian Popular Front, about 270 kilometres from Abidjan.

The pro-Gbagbo militia, the Young Patriots are believed to be behind the attack, according to diplomats. The militants have harassed both the UN and French peacekeepers, accusing them of siding with the rebels. Toure said people in the crowds flung insults at the UN workers and cried, "ONUCI, get out."

The UN workers were there at the request of local authorities, Toure said. It is not clear whether the uprisings are spontaneous or planned, he said, adding, "The important thing is that they stop." Toure said he was not aware of anyone in the mobs being armed.

However it is not only hostile civilians but also government armed forces who have attempted to hamper ONUCI's movements, Toure said. In one case, after an attack by armed men in the Abidjan suburb of Anyama and Agboville, about 80 kilometres from the commercial capital, government forces and civilians blocked UN peacekeepers from entering Agboville for an investigation. Renald Boismoreau, ONUCI military spokesperson told IRIN that while the incidents are a concern they have not widely hampered ONUCI forces' work.

Toure said despite the most recent incidents coming after Gbagbo's appeal, the UN hopes would-be protesters will heed the president's call. "We hope that everyone has now received the message and that everyone will respect it," he said. He said the citizens who would continue to block UN officials from carrying out their work are only hurting themselves. The UN is in Cote d'Ivoire to help accelerate an end to the conflict, Toure said. "It is their country they are penalising. It's the resolution of this crisis they are blocking."

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