Military

DATE= 7/11/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE= IVORY COAST FOOD AID (L-O)

NUMBER=2-305331

BYLINE= NICO COLOMBANT

DATELINE= ABIDJAN

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The reconciliation government in Ivory Coast is launching a food assistance program in areas most affected by the civil war which erupted last year. As VOA's Nico Colombant reports from Abidjan, the decision comes as French and West African peacekeepers struggle to contain dissident fighters in the west.

TEXT: Government spokesman Patrick Achi says there is an urgent need for food assistance in western and central Ivory Coast.

/// ACHI ACT IN FRENCH, ESTABLISH AND FADE ///

Mr. Achi says the government will send 150-thousand tons of food products and also seeds and farming equipment to the region by the end of the year.

Aid workers who have recently traveled to western Ivory Coast say humanitarian conditions are worsening there, because of a lack of food and clean water.

They also say French and West African peacekeepers have struggled to contain remaining dissident fighters in the region -- mainly Liberian mercenaries who fought for both sides during the Ivorian conflict.

Northern-based rebels and the army, who formally declared the end of the war earlier this month, have also tried to chase the fighters back into Liberia. But some of the mercenaries who have not been paid have stayed behind to continue looting local villages.

At the same time, more than 30-thousand Liberians have crossed into Ivory Coast in recent weeks, fleeing their own civil war, and adding to the humanitarian needs in Ivory Coast. (SIGNED)

NEB/NC/AWP/MEM/FC