Military

DATE= 2/2/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IVORY COAST / UNREST (S)

NUMBER=2-299120

BYLINE=LUIS RAMIREZ

DATELINE=ABIDJAN

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Scores of protesters took to the streets of Abidjan Sunday following the discovery of the body of an opposition supporter. V-O-A's Luis Ramirez reports from Abidjan.

TEXT: The demonstrations began in Abidjan's impoverished Adjame market district with protesters smashing car windows and marching in the streets.

Truckloads of police were seen pulling into the district and firing tear gas on the demonstrators.

The demonstrators, many of them Dioula-speaking people from Ivory Coast's north, protested after what they said was the discovery of a body Sunday of a well known supporter of opposition leader Alassane Ouattara.

Mr. Ouattara is from Ivory Coast's rebel-held north, where people have long accused the southern-based government of discrimination.

The Sunday demonstrations came after tens of thousands of people marched in Abidjan on Saturday to call on President Laurent Gbagbo to reject a peace accord that he publicly accepted last week to end a four-month rebellion in the country. The deal calls for the integration of rebels - most of whom are northerners -- into the government. (Signed)

NEB/LR/DW/MAR