Military

DATE=10/30/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-268629

TITLE=IVORY COAST (L)

BYLINE=LUIS RAMIREZ

DATELINE=ABIDJAN

CONTENT:

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Political factions in Ivory Coast are trying to begin what they hope will be a healing process following the bloodiest street clashes in the West African country's history. V-O-A's Luis Ramirez reports from Ivory Coast's main city, Abidjan, that ethnic tensions remain high and hundreds of people have still not been accounted for.

TEXT: More than 100 people were killed over several days of violent street demonstrations that forced out military ruler General Robert Guei on Wednesday.

One day later, Dioula-speaking Muslims and Christian southerners battled each other in an unprecedented bout of ethnic and religious fighting.

Most of those dead or missing from the fighting last week are Dioula-speaking Muslims from northern Ivory Coast. Tension has traditionally existed between the Dioula northerners and the people of southern Ivory Coast, who have controlled the country's politics since independence in 1960.

Relatives of hundreds of young people who were arrested or are missing since demonstrations last week have been camping outside a police facility in Abidjan (Prison de l'Ecole de Police), waiting for word on the fate of their loved ones. This Dioula man tells V-O-A that security forces stormed into his house during the unrest last week and pulled out his 16-year-old brother. He has not seen the boy since.

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He says, "one gets the feeling that this is the beginning of genocide. They have carefully singled out a group of people they want to eliminate. Those who have disappeared," he says, "one does not know where they are. Those who are behind that prison wall, they will not let them go free."

The second set of clashes started with Dioulas demanding new elections that would include Alassane Ouattara, who was barred by the Guei government from running in the October 22nd elections that brought civilian President Laurent Gbagbo to power. Mr. Ouattara's supporters have said they do not consider the elections valid.

On Monday, Mr. Ouattara's Assembly of the Republicans Party, or R-D-R, joined other parties in calling for reconciliation among rival political and ethnic factions.

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Many Dioulas wounded in street clashes last week say they have been too fearful to go to Abidjan hospitals for treatment. Volunteer doctors set up a make-shift clinic outside the home of Alassane Ouattara in Abidjan's wealthy Cocody suburb. At the home, this Dioula told V-O-A he was harassed when he went to the emergency room to get treatment for a wound.

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He says, "I went to a hospital. They told me,' who are you?' They saw I was an R-D-R supporter and told me they could not treat me." He says, "they told me to go to Alassane Ouattara so he could treat me."

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Mr. Ouattara's party is calling for an international team to investigate the worst of the atrocities reported during the demonstrations - the massacre of 57 young men whose bodies were found in a mass grave on the outskirts of Abidjan. Most of the victims are believed to be Dioulas.

The government of President Laurent Gbagbo has vowed to investigate and punish those responsible for the attack. (SIGNED)

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