Military

DATE=10/25/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-268432

TITLE=IVORY COAST (L)

BYLINE=LUIS RAMIREZ

DATELINE=ABIDJAN

CONTENT:

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Angry demonstrations turned into street celebrations in Ivory Coast Wednesday, following word that former military ruler General Robert Guei had left power. V-O-A's Luis Ramirez reports from the Ivorian commercial capital, Abidjan.

TEXT: ///OPENS W-NATURAL SOUND///

The crowd of thousands turned jubilant when word came out that General Robert Guei, who seized power following Ivory Coast's first coup ten months ago, had left office, and possibly fled the country.

Guns that soldiers had used only hours earlier to disperse demonstrators were fired into the air in celebration.

Just a day earlier, General Guei's soldiers had beaten demonstrators on the streets using clubs and whips. On Wednesday, many of them joined the protesters in demanding that General Guei leave. This soldier says he resented serving under the general and is glad to see him gone.

///ACT IN FRENCH, ESTABLISH & FADE///

He says: "I alone could do nothing. Guei is a dirty man. He is a sadist. He could have left with his head high, but instead he has gone in disgrace." He says: "He is going to die with that shame. He has pillaged our country. He has ruined us."

General Guei angered Ivorians when he proclaimed himself the winner in Sunday's presidential elections, despite returns that showed a clear lead for Socialist opponent Laurent Gbagbo.

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The action triggered demonstrations of a size never before seen in Ivory Coast's 40-year history as an independent nation. Many compared the popular uprising to that in Belgrade weeks ago that forced Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic from power.

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Shortly after news emerged that General Guei had left, Laurent Gbagbo went on state radio to announce the dissolution of the military government that had ruled Ivory Coast since its first coup last December.

Mr. Gbagbo announced that a new transition government, made up of civilians, would be set up.

Already, there are signs that the process will not be entirely smooth. At least one of the major opposition parties that was shut out of the elections, the Rally of the Republicans, is calling for new elections.

Critics say the process that has put Laurent Gbagbo at the helm of the country, if only temporarily, was a flawed one, since the Guei government barred most of his major opponents from running in the elections.

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On Wednesday, demonstrators vowed to go after and attack those they accuse of being mercenaries who they say General Guei hired to brutalize the population. And gunshots were still heard Wednesday evening in the vicinity of the presidential palace. (SIGNED)

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