• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 15 May 2006

COTE D IVOIRE: Prime minister nudges divided country to peace

ABIDJAN , 15 May 2006 (IRIN) - A pilot programme to identify millions of Ivorians who do not have nationality and voter papers is scheduled to kick off on Thursday, according to Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny, nudging Cote d’Ivoire closer to peace-sealing polls.

Less than six months before an election deadline, an estimated 3 million Ivorians - many of them first, second or third generation immigrants - have no identity papers and so, no voting papers. Identification is a key demand of rebels who say that immigrants and northerners are marginalised by the government.

The trial hearings will be held on two sites in the rebel-held north and five towns in the government-run south, and are meant to establish the identity of Ivorians and immigrants aged 13 and over who have no birth certificates, Banny said on Sunday.

“On 18 May, local hearings will be organised on seven pilot sites which have been chosen to be a representative sample of what will be done on a large scale,” Banny said on state television.

“Because we want to move fast, because we will have to organise elections by 31 October 2006 […] a national identity certificate will be issued at these local hearings.”

The plan has come under fire from supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo, who fear that hundreds of thousands of foreigners will fraudulently obtain nationality documents enabling them to vote for the opposition.

But Banny said there was no reason for concern as everything had been done to ensure that “the nationality of our country will [not] be given to those who are not entitled to it”.

Under a UN-backed peace plan, identification and disarmament of rebels and pro-government militia must be held simultaneously before presidential elections can be organised.

But Banny was not so firm on when the disarmament of thousands of rebel and government militia would begin.

According to Banny, the first phase of the much-delayed disarmament programme - preparing the return to barracks of tens of thousands of combatants - would begin as soon as the identification hearings were on track.

Rebel and army chiefs are set to meet on Wednesday to pinpoint a timetable for disarmament. Last month, a new round of talks was abruptly broken off when rebel leaders refused to be searched upon entering government territory.

Many observers fear that time is running out to complete the twin programmes of identification and disarmament.

Gbagbo, whose mandate was extended for twelve months by international mediator when 2005 polls could not be held, told the UN mission’s radio station that he would stay on as long as the country remained divided.

“I want elections and I will do everything I can so that elections can be held,” Gbagbo said. “But as long as there are no elections, I am the one who’s president.”

[ENDS]

This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2006