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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
COTE D'IVOIRE: Second rebel minister may break ranks and stay in cabinet
ABIDJAN, 26 September 2003 (IRIN) - The rebel movement in Cote d'Ivoire disowned one of its leaders on Friday after he defied orders to withdraw from the government, but it appeared that a second rebel minister might also break ranks and stay in the cabinet.
The Ivorian Popular Movement of the Great West (MPIGO) said in a statement that Roger Banchi had been "stripped of his ministerial functions" for attending a cabinet meeting on Thursday in defiance of an order that all nine rebel ministers should suspend their participation in the broad-based government of national reconciliation.
But Banchi was unrepentant and said he would stay on as Minister for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises unless he was sacked by President Laurent Gbagbo.
"If the president dissolves the government I will have done everything in my power to fulfill my duties, but to resign for any other reason would do no good," he told IRIN.
Banchi accused the alliance of three rebel movements which control the north of Cote d'Ivoire of "behaving like little children." He added; "Is it really worth spilling blood and igniting fires over issues such as the appointment of departmental directors and office coordinators?"
There was also speculation that Sports Minister Michele Gueu, who has a reputation for independent thought and action, would also decide to stay in the government.
Banchi pointed out that Gueu was currently in the United States on an official mission authorised by Gbagbo, so there was no way he could have attended Thursday's cabinet meeting.
The meeting was the first to be held since the rebels announced their withdrawal from government on Tuesday in protest at what they called Gbagbo's refusal to give ministers the full powers they were due to have under the terms of a January peace agreement.
Banchi said he could not speak for Gueu, who has yet to declare where he stands on the matter of participation in the government. But Banchi pointed out that earlier this month he and Gueu both held late night talks with Gbagbo on the appointment of new ministers of defence and internal security at a time when other rebel ministers refused to take part in the consultations.
"We stayed because we are serious," Banchi said. "The politics of leaving an empty chair never pays.
Gueu is a member of the Patriotic Movement of Cote d'Ivoire (MPCI), the largest of the three rebel movements which are collectively known as "The New Forces."
Cote d'Ivoire, the world's largest cocoa producer and the most prosperous country in West Africa, plunged into civil war a year ago after a failed coup attempt. A French-brokered peace agreement in January led to the rebels joining a government of national reconciliation led by independent Prime Minister Seydou Diarra in April.
However, suspicion between the rebels and Gbagbo continues to run deep and the start of a programme to disarm the rebels and restore government administration to the north of the country is running two months behind schedule.
MPCI Secretary General Guilaume Soro, the official spokesman of the New Forces, has warned that hostilities may resume unless Gbagbo makes concessions.
But Banchi said it was not worth going back to war. "I don't think my friends have taken the decision which the people were expecting of us," he said. "The cry of the people is so strong. Why doesn't Secretary General Guillaume Soro listen to them?"
Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict
[ENDS]
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