Military

DATE=11/29/04

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE= IVORY COAST / FRANCE (L-O)

NUMBER=2-320765

BYLINE= NICO COLOMBANT

DATELINE= ABIDJAN

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

HEADLINE: France Defends its Actions in Ivory Coast Clashes

INTRO: France is defending itself against accusations coming from Ivory Coast that it overstepped its role as a peacekeeping force during clashes earlier this month involving the Ivorian army, the French rapid reaction force and protesters. VOA's Nico Colombant reports from Abidjan.

TEXT: Lawyers for Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo say a planned lawsuit against France at the Hague-based International Court of Justice is based on what they view as France's illegal destruction of Ivorian military aircraft earlier this month.

French President Jacques Chirac ordered those attacks after an Ivorian military raid in the rebel-held north killed nine French soldiers.

Ivorian lawyers say this was in violation of accords that allowed French soldiers to become a rapid reaction force to help end the civil war in the world's leading cocoa producer.

The destruction of the planes prompted massive anti-French looting in the commercial capital, Abidjan, as well as clashes involving protesters, the Ivorian army and the French army.

During the upheaval, dozens of people were killed and more than one-thousand injured. Two other cases brought forward by Ivorian civilian victims are pending, in courts in Abidjan and Paris.

A supporter of President Gbagbo who has worked on all three cases, Genevieve Bro Grebe says she believes France was preparing a coup.

/// GREBE ACT ///

"The complaint is about what France does in Cote d'Ivoire. People without weapons have been killed. I mean Jacques Chirac has destroyed all our planes. The international community should know what is going on in Cote d'Ivoire, I mean the truth."

/// END ACT ///

France has denied trying to topple President Gbagbo, saying it acted to secure French citizens in the south and its soldiers throughout the divided country. More than four-thousand French troops are helping six-thousand United Nations peacekeepers maintain a cease-fire between the Ivorian army and rebels.

French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie says she doesn't believe the case at the Hague has any legal grounds.

But she now admits French forces did open fire on hostile crowds.

/// ALLIOT MARIE ACT IN FRENCH FADED UNDER ///

Speaking on French radio late Sunday, the French Defense Minister said French forces made in her words "full use of their weapons" on angry protesters who were blocking French armored vehicles in several instances. But she says, those protesters, were armed, not only with machetes, but also pistols and AK-47s.

/// NAT SOUND OF GUNFIRE FADED UNDER ///

On the first night of the protests in Abidjan, November sixth, supporters of Mr. Gbagbo were caught in heavy gunfire as French helicopters tried to prevent people from crossing the city's two main bridges, while also receiving fire from Ivorian military positions. Several days later, there was an incident in which French forces fired into a crowd gathering around the city's main hotel, while a convoy of armored vehicles tried to return to their base.

/// REST OPT ///

/// NAT SOUND OF DVD FADED UNDER ///

A new DVD called "The Six Day War of France Against Ivory Coast" is selling briskly in local markets for ten dollars.

The DVD's producer, Gome Gnohite Hilaire, says France has in his words "worn out its welcome" in its former colonies.

/// HILAIRE ACT ///

"We have many people who have been killed and I want the world to know about it. Now I'm very glad to see the impact of this movie in Cote d'Ivoire, in Africa and in the world."

/// END ACT ///

Airport authorities in Burkina Faso, where a summit of French-speaking nations recently took place, confiscated a pile of these DVDs from the Ivorian delegation when it arrived, prompting it to boycott the proceedings. (SIGNED)

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