February 5, 2002
The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday endorsed a shaky French-brokered peace treaty for troubled Ivory Coast and backed French and West African peacekeepers in the West African nation.
A resolution approved unanimously by the 15-nation council authorized French troops and peacekeepers sent in under the auspices of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to ensure the protection of civilians in the world's top cocoa-producing country for an initial six-month period.
The resolution also authorized peacekeeping forces to "take the necessary steps to guarantee the security and freedom of movement of their personnel" in the country of 16 million people carved up along ethnic lines by civil war. It called on all political factions in Ivory Coast to implement "fully and without delay" the peace accord signed near Paris last month, which the government has since backed away from.
Supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo's argue he was forced into signing the peace deal by former colonial power France, which currently has 2,500 soldiers in Ivory Coast to protect foreigners and police the truce. Paris is itself eager to turn peacekeeping duties over to Ivory Coast's West African neighbors.
West African states have begun assembling a force of over 1,200, known as Ecomog, to help restore peace under the leadership of Senegal. Opposition to the peace accord is strong among the people of the largely Christian south, although it is widely backed in the rebel-held north, whose people are mostly Muslims and have long complained of discrimination.
The ethnic divide is at the root of the conflict, which grew out of a failed coup last September and has left hundreds dead, driven more than one million from their homes and raised fears of a spreading regional catastrophe.
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.
