DATE=12/24/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=IVORY COAST / UPRISING (L / 2ND UPDATE)
NUMBER=2-257469
BYLINE=CHALLISS MCDONOUGH
DATELINE=NAIROBI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A former army chief in Ivory Coast has
announced the overthrow of the country's president,
one day after army troops began rampaging through the
streets of Ivory Coast's largest city, Abidjan. V-O-
A's Challiss McDonough reports that Ivory Coast
President Henri Konan Bedie has condemned the
attempted coup. And, it is not clear who is in
charge in the usually stable West African nation.
TEXT: A popular former defense chief says President
Henri Konan Bedie is no longer president of Ivory
Coast.
In a brief speech on national television, General
Robert Guei said the country's constitution, courts,
and parliament have been dissolved. The general said
the army is assuming control of the government.
General Guei said he was speaking for the young
military mutineers who began rampaging through the
streets of Abidjan Thursday. They have reportedly
seized the seaport, the main airport, and the
country's state radio and television stations.
General Guei said the renegade troops are setting up
what he called a "committee of public salvation" to
run the country. He did not explain what that
meant.
President Bedie has condemned the assault on his
government. In an interview with French radio, he
urged all Ivory Coast citizens to resist what he
called the "grotesque and backward attempt at a
military coup."
It is not clear where Mr. Bedie is. General Guei
claimed soldiers have detained the president at his
home just outside Abidjan, but other reports say Mr.
Bedie has taken refuge at the French ambassador's
residence. A spokesman at the French embassy in
Abidjan refused to comment on the reports.
Earlier, diplomatic sources said President Bedie had
met with leaders of the military uprising.
The defense minister said the troops had no
political demands, but were complaining of unpaid
wages and poor living conditions. But General Guei
said the soldiers demanded the immediate release of
all political prisoners, including the 11 jailed
leaders of a prominent opposition party, the Rally of
the Republicans.
Police detained the party leaders last month and
issued an arrest warrant for exiled party chairman and
would-be presidential candidate, Alassane Ouattara.
He is a former prime minister who has accused the
president of harassing his party members.
/// OPT /// On Wednesday, President Bedie offered
conditional amnesty to the jailed party leaders. In
an unprecedented speech to parliament, he appealed for
calm and dignity ahead of next year's elections, and
urged the opposition to cooperate with the government.
The renegade soldiers took to the streets less than
one day later. /// END OPT ///
But the rebels have not stated any direct link between
their action and the recent political crisis.
A Western diplomat in Abidjan described the situation
there as very uncertain. She told V-O-A the streets
of the city are filled with soldiers, and there has
been widespread looting of stores. She said the city
was fairly quiet, although earlier there had been
frequent bursts of automatic gunfire as soldiers fired
their weapons into the air.
General Guei has urged citizens of Ivory Coast to
remain calm. He said the mutinous troops are not
out to hurt anyone. They have declared a dusk-to-dawn
curfew in a brief announcement on a private radio
station, which has also reportedly been taken over by
rebel soldiers.
/// REST OPT ///
In an interview with the French news agency, the
general condemned the looting and said he has ordered
the soldiers to - in his words - stop traumatizing the
population with their useless gunfire.
A number of international airlines have suspended
flights to Ivory Coast in the wake of the attempted
coup. Several foreign embassies in Abidjan have urged
their citizens to stay indoors.
Ivory Coast is usually thought of as one of the most
stable nations in West Africa. It has never had a
military coup in nearly 40 years of independence.
But the country has been gripped by political and
financial turmoil in recent months.
Ivory Coast is the world's top producer of cocoa, and
market prices had recently slumped to near-record
lows. The country's economic crisis was compounded
when international donors froze aid to the country
because of concerns about corruption and
accountability.
Cocoa prices have jumped on world markets following
news of the unrest in Abidjan. (Signed)
NEB/CEM/JWH/JP
24-Dec-1999 12:06 PM EDT (24-Dec-1999 1706 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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