Ethno-Net Database: Côte d'Ivoire

The following section is consisted of part, full or summaries of articles from diverses sources (newspapers, newsletters, etc...).
La section suivante est constituée d'exraits, de la totalité ou de résumés d'articles provenant d'origines diverses (journaux,bulletins, etc..).

L'ambassadeur d'Arabie Saoudite en Côte d'Ivoire, Mohammed Ahmad al-Rasheed, a été découvert mort vendredi dans la capitale économique, Abidjan. Des sources ont déclaré à IRIN qu'il a été trouvé baignant dans une mare de sang au 15ème étage du bâtiment où il résidait, deux étages au-dessous de son appartement. Les circonstances entourant sa mort n'étaient pas claires dans l'immédiat.

Al-Rasheed, qui a occupé son poste en décembre 2002, était le premier ambassadeur saoudien auprès de la Côte d'Ivoire. Il vivait dans le quartier commercial du Plateau, siège de tous les ministères, des institutions gouvernementales et de nombreuses représentations étrangères.

Le Gouvernement ivoirien a publié un communiqué de condoléances vendredi adressé à la monarchie saoudienne et à la famille du diplomate assassiné, condamnant son meurtre comme étant un " acte barbare ". Il a ajouté qu'une enquête a été ouverte pour retrouver le responsable et que le Premier ministre, Seydou Diarra, s'était rendu sur les lieux de l'enquête pour s'enquérir de la situation.

Par ailleurs, les représentants des rebelles étaient absents jeudi, pour la troisième fois consécutive, au Conseil des ministres hebdomadaire du nouveau gouvernement d'unité nationale, qui a eu lieu à Abidjan.

IRIN

L'article: "Des combattants détenus se sont évadés, selon l'armée française"

Un petit groupe de combattants favorables au Gouvernement ivoirien, gardés par les soldats français dans l'ouest de la Côte d'Ivoire, s'est évadé lors d'une manifestation anti-française de 5000 à 6000 membres du 'Collectif des Jeunes Patriotes', dans la localité de Daloa, à l'ouest du pays, a annoncé mercredi dans un communiqué le bureau du contingent de l'armée française.

Quelques 71 détenus dans un camp militaire français à Daloa (centre de la Côte d'Ivoire), se sont échappés mercredi, lors d'une manifestation de partisans du président Laurent Gbagbo, a indiqué jeudi à l'AFP, Charles Blé Goudé, président du "Collectif des jeunes patriotes".

[Le Collectif des Jeunes Patriotes est un groupe de pression partisan du Gouvernement].

Le commandement militaire français a indiqué que les " agissements irresponsables à Daloa ont conduit à l'évasion de certains des détenus ". Le communiqué précise que les évadés sont des Libériens, mais n'a pas précisé leur nombre. Le commandement militaire français a également déclaré qu'il était irresponsable de la part d'agitateurs professionnels' de manipuler 'des populations inquiètes' en les incitant à des actes de violence et de haine et en les insurgeant contre les soldats français et d'autres soldats de la paix internationaux dans le pays.

Si l'on en croit le journal pro-gouvernemental Fraternité-Matin, les hommes, au nombre de 14, auraient été libérés par les soldats français après plusieurs heures de négociations entre le président du mouvement des jeunes, Charles Blé Goudé, et l'opération française à Daloa, à 406 km à l'ouest d'Abidjan.

Les combattants ont été appréhendés début mars. Il avait été alors rapporté qu'ils faisaient partie d'une milice constituée de supplétifs libériens combattant pour le compte du Gouvernement ivoirien contre les forces rebelles dans l'extrême ouest de la Côte d'Ivoire. Le Gouvernement a démenti ces informations.

Le Collectif des Jeunes Patriotes, qui a organisé la plupart des manifestations pro-gouvernementales de ces derniers mois à Abidjan et dans d'autres agglomérations contrôlées par les autorités, a également indiqué que les personnes arrêtées n'étaient pas des mercenaires mais des Ivoiriens et des Libériens qui en ont assez de voir leurs familles tuées dans les combats, qui font rage depuis quatre mois.

Lundi, M. Blé Goudé - qui est aussi un ancien leader des étudiants - avait donné une conférence de presse pour annoncer que les jeunes allaient se rendre à Daloa pour libérer ces détenus.

Dans leurs éditions du mardi, les médias nationaux ont exprimé des points de vue divergents concernant cet incident. Alors que les journaux pro-gouvernementaux indiquaient que les hommes ont été 'relaxés ', ceux de l'opposition ont proclamé qu'ils s'étaient échappés.

Le lieutenant colonel Phillippe Perret, qui dirige la force française, a déclaré jeudi à IRIN qu'il a informé le bureau du Représentant spécial du Secrétaire-Général de l'ONU pour la crise en Côte d'Ivoire de l'incident.

Sur le front politique, deux ministres ont été nommés par intérim à la tête des ministères de la Défense et de la Sécurité. Le ministère de la Défense sera dirigé par Assoa Adou, du Front Populaire Ivoirien, au pouvoir, tandis que le portefeuille de la Sécurité a été assigné à Fofana Zemogo, du Rassemblement des Républicains (RDR), de l'opposition.

La force-tampon déployée en Côte d'Ivoire par la Communauté économique des Etats d'Afrique l'Ouest (CEDEAO) va occuper ses positions sur une ligne de 600 km à travers la Côte d'Ivoire cette semaine, selon le chef d'état major de la force.

La force de la CEDEAO, baptisée ECOFORCE, a atteint son effectif de 1 264 hommes le 24 mars, avec l'arrivée d'un dernier groupe de 35 soldats de la paix du Sénégal, d'après l'Unité de Communication d'ECOFORCE à Abidjan. Elle est composée de contingents de cinq pays: Bénin, Ghana, Niger, Sénégal et Togo.

Le colonel Mathieu Boni a déclaré à IRIN vendredi depuis sa base à Zambakro, à une quinzaine de kilomètres de la capitale administrative, Yamoussoukro, que chaque contingent national sera chargé d'un secteur donné le long des 600 km de la ligne, qui s'étend de la région autour de Bondoukou, près de la frontière avec le Ghana, jusqu'à la Rivière Sassandra, dans la partie ouest du pays.

Entre le 24 et le 28 mars, les contingents du Bénin, du Niger, du Sénégal et du Togo, remplaceront l'armée française, qui a joué le rôle de force-tampon entre les troupes gouvernementales ivoiriennes et les rebelles, occupant le nord du pays et certaines parties de l'ouest.

Un contingent ghanéen a déjà relayé les soldats français le 15 mars 2003 à Bondoukou. Les soldats de la paix du Niger seront responsables du secteur voisin, autour de la localité de Prikro, suivis par les Sénégalais à Tiebissou, à 60 km au nord de Yamoussoukro. L'unité togolaise sera positionnée autour de Bouaflé, au nord-ouest de Yamoussoukro, tandis que le contingent du Bénin sera stationné dans la région de Daloa, au sud-ouest de Bouaflé. Les forces françaises seront stationnées derrière leurs homologues de la CEDEAO.

En vertu de la Résolution 1464 du Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU, les deux forces sont chargées de protéger la population civile dans les zones où elles opèrent.

"Le fait que nous avons fréquenté les mêmes écoles militaires que certaines personnes dans les deux camps nous permet d'aborder la situation à l'amiable et d'utiliser la dissuasion en plaidant pour des accords de règlement ", a affirmé M. Boni à IRIN. [Le noyau du principal groupe rebelle, le MPCI, inclut des membres des forces armées à l'origine du soulèvement du 19 septembre, qui se sont retranchés plus tard à Bouaké, une ville du centre].

Les tâches de l'ECOFORCE consistent également à "prévenir les rumeurs d'attaques circulant dans les deux camps, à maintenir le contact avec le gouvernement, d'une part, et avec les rebelles, de l'autre, et à recueillir des informations de base ", selon M. Boni, qui a été à la tête d'une mission d'interposition de six mois, en 1999, entre les forces favorables au Gouvernement et les forces hostiles aux autorités en Guinée-Bissau.

La situation était calme sur le terrain, a-t-il précisé, en dépit de quelques escarmouches attribuées à des "bandits" qui profitaient de la situation pour extorquer de l'argent aux civils dans certaines communautés.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Friday appealed to the international community for US $29 million to cover the needs of some 163,000 people liable to be affected by the six-month-old Ivorian crisis in 2003.

The amount, which is an extension of an initial $6.1 million requested to cover three months of assistance in 2002, would be used primarily for transport, logistics and infrastructure, protection, monitoring of borders and domestic items. The target population represents both refugees and returnees who could affected by the crisis, UNHCR said in a briefing on Friday in Geneva. Among other activities the agency plans to establish new camps in Liberia. It also wants to continue the repatriation of Liberians who say their security is not guaranteed in Cote d'Ivoire.

UNHCR is already assisting some 120,000 people displaced by the fighting. The current caseload includes at least 40,000 refugees who fled Cote d'Ivoire for neighbouring countries, mainly Liberia and Guinea. More than 40,000 Liberian refugees have also returned to Liberia, despite the instability there. According to the agency, some 35,000 Liberians remain in Cote d'Ivoire. UNHCR said it was still trying to find a new site for them in Cote d'Ivoire or elsewhere.

The amount requested by UNHCR will be part of an upcoming UN consolidated inter-agency appeal for Cote d'Ivoire and its five neighours.

IRIN

L'article: "Les ministres issus de l'opposition retournent au pays à la veille du conseil des ministres"

Les ministres choisis par le principal parti de l'opposition en Côte d'Ivoire Rassemblement des Républicains (RDR) pour le représenter au sein du nouveau gouvernement national de réconciliation (GNR), sont retournés à Abidjan cette semaine, ce que certains observateurs considèrent comme une étape majeure dans les efforts déployés pour résoudre la crise déclenchée par une rébellion armée en septembre 2002.

Depuis plusieurs mois, l'exécutif et les hauts responsables du RDR, y compris son président Alassane Dramane Ouattara, vivaient à l'étranger pour des raisons de sécurité. Les six ministres désignés sont arrivés mardi à Abidjan, la capitale économique de la Côte d'Ivoire, dans une atmosphère de sécurité renforcée à la veille de la première réunion du nouveau gouvernement, prévue jeudi, ont rapporté des sources médiatiques.

La sécurité a été l'une des raisons invoquées par le parti pour justifier son absence de la réunion inaugurale du Gouvernement, qui s'est déroulée jeudi dernier dans la capitale administrative, Yamoussoukro, à 260 km au nord d'Abidjan. Depuis l'indépendance obtenue de la France il y a 43 ans, les conseils des ministres ont toujours eu lieu à Abidjan. La décision de réunir le nouveau gouvernement à Yamoussoukro aurait été dictée par des considérations liées à la sécurité.

Les ministres qui devaient être nommés par les trois mouvements rebelles du pays n'avaient pas pris part à la réunion ministérielle du 12 mars. Ils ont également invoqué des raisons de sécurité, mais se sont engagés, il y a une semaine, à participer à la séance de jeudi.

Les six ministres choisis par le RDR, arrivés cette semaine, incluent la Secrétaire générale du parti, Henriette Dagri Diabaté [ministère de la Justice], Amadou Gon Coulibaly [agriculture], et Hamed Bakayoko, propriétaire d'une station de radio privée, pressenti à la tête du ministère de la Technologie de l'Information et des Télécommunications.

Les trois autres sont Marcel Amon Tanoh, Amadou Soumahoro et Zemogo Fofana.Jusqu'aux premières heures du mercredi, on ignorait encore si le septième ministre désigné par le RDR - dont la nomination à la tête du ministère de la Famille n'a pas recueilli l'assentiment du président Laurent Gbagbo - était rentré à Abidjan.

Durant les deux dernières semaines, la Côte d'Ivoire a franchi une série de pas qu'un observateur a qualifiés de 'petits mais positifs" vers une résolution de sa crise, à commencer par une réunion à Accra, au Ghana, qui a permis aux parties de finaliser le plan de création du GNR, dont les 41 membres incluent sept représentants du principal groupe rebelle, le Mouvement Patriotique de Côte d'Ivoire.

En effet, c'est à la rencontre d'Accra que les rebelles ont renoncé à leur exigence de diriger les ministères de la Sécurité et de la Défense, que M. Gbagbo leur aurait promis, selon eux, lors d'une réunion tenue en janvier à Paris. Le désaccord autour de ces deux ministères a constitué la principale pierre d'achoppement pour la formation du nouveau gouvernement, dirigé par le Premier ministre, Seydou Diarra.

Les partis politiques et les groupes rebelles ayant participé à la réunion d'Accra ont formé un Conseil national de sécurité qui devra proposer des personnalités pour les deux postes.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced on Wednesday the death of four Ivorian Red Cross volunteers in Toulepleu, a town in western Cote d'Ivoire.

The four men, Gonzreu Kloueu, his son Thierry, Te Goue and Vally Camara, had been missing since 12 January. "Their bodies have been found and identified," the ICRC said in a statement in which it expressed its deepest condolences to the victims' families and called for an inquiry into their deaths. It called for "new security guarantees enabling Red Cross personnel to pursue their efforts to meet the urgent needs of people living in the Toulepleu area".

Toulepleu is located in an area along Cote d'Ivoire's border with Liberia that has been plagued in recent weeks by clashes involving pro- and anti-government forces. It is just a few kilometres from Toe Town in Liberia where three staff members of the ADRA relief agency were killed earlier this month in clashes between Liberian government troops and rebels.

Ministers chosen by Cote d'Ivoire's main opposition Rassemblement des Republicains (RDR) to represent it in a new government of national reconciliation (GNR) returned to Abidjan on Tuesday in what is seen by some observers as a major step in an ongoing effort to resolve the crisis sparked by the outbreak of an armed rebellion in September 2002.

Over the past few months, the RDR's executive and senior cadres, including its president, Alassane Dramane Ouattara, had been living abroad for security reasons. The six ministers-designate arrived in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire's economic capital, amid tight security ahead of the first full meeting of the new cabinet, to be held on Thursday, media sources reported.

Security had been one of the reasons cited by the party for not attending an inaugural cabinet meeting held last Thursday in the administrative capital, Yamoussoukro, 260 km north of Abidjan. Ever since independence from France 43 years ago, government meetings had been held in Abidjan. The decision to have the new government meet in Yamoussoukro was prompted by security considerations.

Ministers to be designated by the country's three rebel movements also did not attend the 12 March cabinet meeting. They, too, cited security reasons, but pledged last week that they would attend Thursday's session.

The six RDR ministers-designate who arrived this week include the party's Secretary-General, Henriette Dagri Diabate [justice ministry], Amadou Gon Coulibaly [agriculture] and Hamed Bakayoko, the owner of a private radio station, who is tipped to head the ministry of information technology and telecommunications.

The other three are Marcel Amon Tanoh, Amadou Soumahoro and Zemogo Fofana. Up to early Wednesday, it was still unclear whether the seventh minister designated by the RDR - whose nomination as head of the ministry of family affairs has been opposed by President Laurent Gbagbo - had returned to Abidjan.

In the past two weeks, Cote d'Ivoire has experienced a series of what one observer called "small but positive" steps towards a resolution of its crisis, starting with a meeting in Accra, Ghana, at which the parties finalized the plan for the creation of the GNR, whose 41 members include seven representing the main rebel Mouvement Patriotique de Cote d'Ivoire.

The Accra meeting saw the rebels drop their demand to head the security and defence ministers, which they said they had been promised by Gbagbo at a January meeting in Paris. The disagreement over the two ministries had been a major stumbling block to the formation of the new government, led by Prime Minister Seydou Diarra.

The political parties and rebel groups who participated in the Accra meeting formed a National Security Council which is to come up with nominations for the two posts.

IRIN

The Article: "Committee on racial discrimination reviews country report"

Cote d'Ivoire should seek advisory services and technical cooperation from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) to improve its performance in the protection and promotion of human rights, Mohamed Aly Thiam of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination recommended on Thursday.

Cote d'Ivoire, one of the 167 states party to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, is obliged to submit periodic reports to the Committee on its national anti-discrimination efforts. Thiam is the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur for the reports of Cote d'Ivoire. His recommendation followed the consideration of the latest periodic report by Cote d'Ivoire to the Committee, whose conclusions are to be issued later this week.

An Ivorian delegation told the committee that, among other things, the current armed crisis in the country was a struggle for political power and not an ethnic conflict. The 15-member delegation said that with a high number of foreigners living in the country, Cote d'Ivoire could and did not show xenophobic attitudes. It added that the government had never expelled foreigners but instead offered them the rights enjoyed by nationals.

UNHCHR quoted the Ivorian government delegation as saying that despite its hospitality in hosting more than four million foreigners, Cote d'Ivoire had been accused of xenophobia and of excluding part of its population. The delegation said powerful international media had relayed the accusation, adding that only an estimated half a million people affected by the current crisis had left the country.

"Cote d'Ivoire nevertheless would remain a land of fraternity and a mosaic of tribes, religions and cultures harmoniously cohabiting," UNHCHR quoted the delegation as saying.

The Article: "UN special representative presents report to Security Council"

The UN Special Repressentative for the Crisis in Cote d'Ivoire, Albert Tevoedjre, on Friday presented his first report on the situation in Cote d'Ivoire to the UN Security Council, the Council reported.

The report focused on major developments since Tevoedjre took up his post on 11 January, including the Linas-Marcoussis Agreement [a pact concluded in January in Paris by Cote d'Ivoire's main political parties and rebel groups], the formation of a new government -one of the results of the agreement - and fighting in western Cote d'Ivoire, including in the area of Bangolo, where more than one hundred civilians were killed.

Tevoedjre also briefed the Council on the activities of the Follow Up Committee of the Paris Agreement, mandated to implement political decisions agreed in Linas-Marcoussis.

The Security Council in turn expressed support for the work of Tevoedjre and his team; thanked France for providing troops to Cote d'Ivoire and expressed support for the ECOWAS troops which have started to take over from the French on the frontline. In addition to thanking ECOWAS for ensuring the safety of members of the government of national reconciliation, the Council called on member states to provide adequate financial and logistical support for the forces.

Meanwhile, efforts continued over the weekend to convince the opposition Rassemblement des Republicains and the country's three rebel groups to take up their seats in the newly formed government of national reconciliation. On Thursday, the four did not attend the new cabinet's first meeting, citing security concerns. On Monday, however, the RDR and the three rebel groups assured Prime Minister Seydou Diarra that they would sit in the government.

The second cabinet meeting is to be held on Thursday in the capital, Yamoussoukro, 260 km north of Abidjan.

Cote d'Ivoire new government has 41 posts: 10 for the ruling Front Populaire Ivoirien (FPI); 7 posts each for RDR, the main rebel group - MPCI - and the former ruling party Parti democratique de Cote d'Ivoire (PDCI). The remaining portfolios were distributed among smaller political parties and two rebel groups operating in western Cote d'Ivoire.

More than a month after his nomination in Paris by Ivorian political parties and rebel groups, Prime Minister Seydou Elimane Diarra was officially sworn in on Monday in Cote d'Ivoire's economic capital, Abidjan.

Diarra was nominated by "consensus" at a roundtable meeting in Linas-Marcoussis, Paris, in January, at which representatives of the ruling party, opposition and insurgents agreed to form a government of national reconciliation. He replaces Pascal Affi N'guessan who had been premier since October 2000.

Diarra's swearing-in came on the heels of a weekend meeting in Accra, Ghana, attended by representatives of the signatories to the Linas-Marcoussis Agreement.

The allocation of cabinet posts was a major stumbling block for the implementation of the agreement. At issue was the attribution of the ministries of defence and interior. The rebel Patriotic Movement of Cote d'Ivoire (MPCI) claimed the two posts by virtue of an oral agreement which it said, had been reached with President Laurent Gbagbo. However, Gbagbo denied any such deal. For weeks, the two sides stuck to their positions, virtually blocking Diarra from nominating the new government. A breakthrough occurred in Accra when the MPCI agreed to give up the two posts in exchange for other ministries.

According to media sources, the new government, which is to comprise 41 ministers, will be announced on Thursday in the Ivorian capital, Yamoussoukro, 260 km north of Abidjan.

The Follow-up Committee of the Linas-Marcoussis Agreement, chaired by UN Special Representative Albert Tevoedjre, met on Monday with Gbagbo, who assured the committee that "all that was done and achieved in Accra will be realised", the pro-government Fraternite-Matin reported. Tevoedjre was expected to travel to New York this week where he would present a report to the Security Council. In a press communique, the Follow-Up Committee announced that he would brief the Council about recent events in western Cote d'Ivoire, where many civilians have been killed during armed clashes.

"Ghana's president and current chairman of the Economic" Community of West Africa (ECOWAS), John Kufuor, has invited all the signatories to the Marcousis accord on Cote d'Ivoire to a meeting in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, on Thursday.

Kufuor, who met ECOWAS chiefs of defense forces from 15 countries led by their chairman Lt-Gen Seth Obeng on Tuesday, said ECOWAS was trying to accelerate the resolution of the Ivorian crisis at political and military levels.

"I expect all the leaders of the Ivorian factions here tomorrow to continue discussions on how to resolve this crisis. The ECOWAS presidents are discussing the matter at the political level," Kufuor told the defense chiefs.

The chiefs of defense forces were holding a two-day meeting in Accra to discuss the deployment of a peacekeeping force in Cote d'Ivoire. Obeng said the Ivorian crisis was a major problem facing ECOWAS defense forces. "We cannot ignore the problem especially given its potential to spread throughout the region," he said.

Five countries, namely Benin, Ghana, Niger, Togo and Senegal had already committed troops for the Ivorian mission, Obeng added. The meeting discussed contributions from other countries as well as the logistical aspects of deployment of the force.

Kufuor's press secretary, Kwabena Agyepong, told reporters that the Thursday meeting would be part of ongoing consultations on the formation of a national unity government in Cote d'Ivoire. Political party leaders Alassane Ouattara, Henri Konan Bedie, Pascal Affi Nguessan and the new prime minister, Seydou Diarra, were expected to attend the meeting along with representatives of the rebel MPCI.

The press secretary said Kufuor would travel to Burkina Faso and Togo on Friday and to Nigeria on Saturday. Further consultations on the Ivorian crisis were expected to take place during these visits.

IRIN

The Article: "Amnesty enquêtera sur la situation des droits de l'Homme"

Une équipe de l'organisation de défense des droits de l'Homme, Amnesty International, est arrivée en Côte d'Ivoire lundi pour enquêter sur les violations des droits de l'Homme perpétrées depuis le déclenchement du conflit armé dans ce pays ouest-africain.

La mission de dix jours sera principalement axée sur la capitale économique, Abidjan, où Amnesty projette d'enquêter sur les "escadrons de la mort" - groupe d'hommes armés en uniformes qui ont enlevé et tué (généralement de nuit) des militants de l'opposition et d'autres civils au cours des derniers mois -. " Les quatre membres de la mission rencontreront le président Laurent Gbagbo, ainsi que des responsables de l'appareil judiciaire, des forces de sécurité, des partis politiques et des représentants de la société civile ", ont déclaré mardi à IRIN des sources proches d'Amnesty.

Il est prévu que la délégation visite des prisons et d'autres centres de détention, ce que Amnesty n'a pu faire lors de sa précédente mission en octobre 2002. Les forces de sécurité avaient alors déclaré que de telles visites nécessitaient le " feu vert " du ministre de la Défense même si, selon Amnesty, le ministre de la Justice Désiré Tagro, avait autorisé les visites.

La mission à Abidjan fait suite à un rapport fortement médiatisé faisant état de massacres commis par le principal groupe rebelle, le Mouvement Patriotique de Côte d'Ivoire (MPCI). Le rapport accusait le MPCI d'avoir exécuté des soldats, des gendarmes et leurs enfants. Le MPCI a opposé un démenti, rétorquant que les victimes ont été tuées durant les combats.

Amnesty a invité les autorités ivoiriennes à garantir la protection des membres de sa mission pour que celle-ci soit conduite "sans obstacles et intimidations", a indiqué l'organisation dans un communiqué. Elle a rappelé que durant sa mission en octobre dernier, un membre de la délégation a été arrêté par les forces de sécurité alors qu'il parlait avec des femmes ayant perdu leurs habitations à l'issue de la démolition des bidonvilles. D'après Amnesty, le membre de la délégation, Gaëtan Mootoo, ainsi que les femmes ont été relâchés plus tard, sur les ordres du ministre Tagro. M. Mootoo participe à la nouvelle mission d'enquête, ainsi que Me Demba Ciré Bathily, Alex Neve et Hubert Dubois.

Cote d'Ivoire's president, Laurent Gbagbo, denied on Saturday that his regime was responsible for death squads reported to have killed opposition personalities and other victims, and refuted other accusations levelled against him by national and international critics.

Speaking at a press conference attended by journalists, members of the diplomatic corps and key local personalities, he also refuted accusations that his wife was involved in the death squads - the name Abidjan residents have given to armed men in military uniforms who kidnap and kill civilians at night - and said that the government had ordered investigations into the deaths.

A January report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that the death squads were responsible for the deaths of many civilians, mostly opposition activists. It noted that the squads were reportedly linked to the security forces.

No one knows for sure how many killings are to be blamed on the death squads, who have been the subject of many reports, accusations and counter-accusations in Cote d'Ivoire. Much has also been written about them in France and Gbagbo said his government would file a defamation suit against two French newspapers, Le Monde and La Croix, to get them to provide evidence of what they have called "Gbagbo's death squads".

Gbagbo also referred to efforts made by his government in the areas of human rights and impunity.

He said at least 50 people had been charged with threatening state security, adding that the government had asked the United Nations to send an international team of inquiry to investigate the death of all those who have died since the beginning of the Ivorian conflict in September 2002.

"On 5 November the Government of Cote d'Ivoire wrote a letter to the Secretary-General of the UN asking him to send urgently an inquiry team in Cote d'Ivoire," he said. It's only the day before yesterday [Thursday] that I received a positive response from the SG saying in the weeks or months to come, we will receive such a mission. I am eager for it to arrive."

He added that the government intended to have human rights violators brought before the International Criminal Court - which Cote d'Ivoire has not yet ratified - through the UN Security Council.

In response to critics who have accused the government of running a military and security apparatus comprised mainly of Gbagbo's Bete ethnic group, the president presented statistics to show that Betes were a minority in the upper ranks of the gendarmerie and military.

Gbagbo was elected in October 2000 in conditions he himself has described as "calamitous": 12 of the 19 candidates had been disqualified, and many people died as the incumbent, General Robert Guei, tried to hold on to power. The circumstances surrounding his election have been used by national and international critics to say that it was illegitimate. However, Gbagbo denied this. "I was not badly elected," he said. "I was elected, full stop!

He recalled that 37.42 percent of registered voters had cast their ballots, a rate which, he said, was "higher than in some neighbouring countries, but we never criticised them". He added that he had been elected with 59,38 percent of the vote.

Gbagbo said he was tired of what he described as intoxication campaigns aimed at tarnishing his presidency. Since taking office, he said, his government has been the target of one accusation after another, masterminded by obscure forces. Recalling that he had spent 30 years in opposition, he urged those who wanted to take his place to wait their turn and fight loyally.

"I am waiting for them in the political arena," he said. "Let's fight politically."

The Article: "Côte D'ivoire-Liberia: Fighting reported on both sides of border"

Defence authorities in Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia have reported attacks by groups from each others' territory on locations on either side of their border. However, the claims could not be immediately confirmed by third parties.

Defence authorities in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, said that heavy fighting continued on Monday between Liberian government troops and insurgents in Toe Town, close to the Ivorian border. The town was captured on Friday by the Liberians United for Reconciliation (LURD) rebel group, according to the Liberian government.

Liberian Defence spokesman Philibert Browne told IRIN on Monday that Liberian government troops were "engaging the rebels to regain control of the town" which, prior to the attack, was a transit point for Ivorian refugees and Liberians fleeing armed conflict in Cote d'Ivoire.

Liberian Defense Minister Daniel Chea had told a news conference in Monrovia on Saturday that Toe Town had been attacked by two platoons of insurgents "armed and backed by the Ivorian government". He said the attack had been launched from the town of Toulepleu, on the Ivorian side of the border.

"For the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire to encourage Liberian mercenaries fighting alongside their own troops in their civil crisis to cross the border into Liberian territory is tantamount to a declaration of war," Chea said. "[...] those who want to continue this wave of violence against our people must understand that we reserve the right to self-defense."

However, Cote d'Ivoire's armed forces denied Chea's claims. The armed forces "would like to indicate that no foreign mercenary is fighting alongside it and that the statements of the minister of defence of Liberia constitute groundless accusations," Armed Forces spokesman Lt Col Jules Yao Yao said on Sunday.

"On the other hand," he continued, the Ivorian armed forces "recognise that the situation in the west of Cote d'Ivoire remains worrying since the different actors intervening in the conflict are difficult to identify."

Two rebel groups, the Mouvement pour la Justice et la Paix (MJP) and the Mouvement patriotique du Grand Ouest (MPIGO), operate on the Ivorian side of the border between Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia. The MJP has its headquarters in the town of Man, while MPIGO's territory is farther south, around the town of Danane. Like the Ivorian government, both groups have been accused of using Liberian fighters.

On Sunday, MPIGO leader Felix Doh claimed that Ivorian army helicopters had attacked the town of Bin Houye, which lies near the southern limit of MPIGO-controlled territory. He said the attack, carried out on Saturday, killed about 20 civilians and wounded many others. AFP quoted Doh as saying that he had "given orders to take the offensive".

"Once helicopters start bombarding, I think the ceasefire is over," AFP reported Doh as saying. The ceasefire was signed late last year.

However, Yao Yao claimed that the Ivorian armed forces "were forced to give an appropriate response to an attack against their positions in Toulepleu", which is about 20 km south of Bin Houye. He said the attack had been carried out "by heavily armed men who spoke English" and that "if there were deaths, they could only have occurred during the fighting since the enemy probably registered many losses".

Yao Yao also said that on Sunday "an enemy element evaluated at about 30 persons was detected at Tambly", a village about 5 km east of Duekoue, a government-held town east of the rebel positions. "An offensive reconnaissance is under way to flush out and destroy this element," he said.

>>>>> The ceasefire agreement between the Government of Cote d'Ivoire and the two western rebel groups

Reporters without Borders (RSF - Reporters sans Frontieres) protested on Monday against the treatment of media and journalists in Cote d'Ivoire and Togo.

RSF called on the Togolese authorities to authorise a private radio station, Tropik FM, to go back on the air. Tropik was closed "until further notice" on 28 February by the Haute Autorité de l'audiovisuel et de la communication (HAAC) - the organ that regulates the broadcast media in Togo - which claimed it had allowed the opposition to insult the regime of President Gnassingbe Eyadema.

Tropic is the second private radio to be closed in Togo in a little over a year. Radio Victoire went off the air on 7 February 2002 for not heeding an instruction from the HAAC to stop broadcasting programmes it said were emotional and libellous, and discredited the Togolese authorities. One of the programmes had denounced human rights violations in the country.

RSF lauded a decision on Friday by Cote d'Ivoire's government to allow three foreign radio stations - RFI, BBC and Africa No. 1 - to resume FM transmissions. RSF Secretary-General Robert Menard said this was "an encouraging first step" which, however, "should not mask the almost daily violations of press freedom in Cote d'Ivoire".

One day after the decision, "foreign journalists were roughed up while covering a press conference by the head of state", Menard noted in a letter to a follow-up committee that has been monitoring the implementation of an accord concluded in Marcoussis, France, by the various parties to Cote d'Ivoire's crisis.

The Follow-Up Committee had announced on Friday that the three international radio stations that had been censored since September 2002 had once again been authorised to broadcast on FM.

However, on 1 March, a team from the French television channel, France 2, and reporters from Agence France-Presse (AFP) were insulted and roughed up by security forces and civilians when they went to cover a press conference by President Laurent Gbagbo. They were accused of being enemies of Cote d'Ivoire and of selling out the country.

"We ... would like the follow-up committee to pursue its efforts, to do everything possible, to obtain protection measures for journalists who request them and stop the propagation of hateful and xenophobic ideas in certain Ivorian newspapers," Menard said.

Reporters sans frontières said it was also asking the committee to look into the disappearance of Kloueu Gonzreu, a correspondent of the Ivorian news agency, l'Agence ivoirienne de presse (AIP), in the western town of Toulepleu. He has been missing since 11 January when, according to his relatives, he was arrested by Liberian militamen who have been guarding villages in the area against anti-government rebels.

RSF said many people detained along with him, including his 19-year-old son, were later found dead.

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