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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 23 May 2006

COTE D IVOIRE: Combatants begin pullback in first step to disarmament

ABIDJAN, 23 May 2006 (IRIN) - The two sides in Cote d’Ivoire’s more than three-year war, rebel leaders and loyalist army chiefs, on Tuesday said a first phase of disarmament was under way, with some combatants returning to designated disarmament sites.

Independent confirmation of the troop movements was not immediately available however from the UN mission in Cote d’Ivoire, which has been charged with overseeing disarmament, a key step forward in securing peace.

According to an Ivorian army spokesman, 96 loyalist troops stationed in a town close to the UN-patrolled no-man’s land separating the rebel-held north from the government-run south, were dispatched to the nearby capital Yamoussoukro on Monday.

The move inaugurated a so-called pre-regroupment phase, meant to prepare the return to barracks of tens of thousands of combatants.

“This is a very important step,” army chief of staff Philippe Mangou said during the ceremony. “We are completing the first phase of disarmament in keeping with the peace process initiated by the prime minister.”

Later this week, troops near the port city of San Pedro will be gathered at designated sites, an army spokesman told IRIN on condition of anonymity.

And in the rebel capital Bouake, spokesman Sidiki Konate said rebel commanders were ready to pull back fighters to designated sites in the northern towns of Botro and Bouna on Tuesday.

“First, we are going to pinpoint out current position on a map…and then we are going to draw up maps with our new positions,” Konate said. He did not say how many fighters would be gathered at the sites.

A deadline for disarmament has not been set. Rebel and army chiefs are expected to discuss a timetable on 31 May.

Cote d’Ivoire has been split in two since insurgents tried but failed to topple President Laurent Gbagbo in September 2002.

Rebels and government leaders agreed to lay down their weapons in the 2003 Marcoussis peace agreement which ended the civil war, but a single weapon has yet to be handed in and purpose built cantonments sites stand unused across the country.

Disarmament of rebels and pro-government militia is key to holding presidential elections planned for October. Last year, international mediators extended Gbagbo’s mandate by12 months and appointed a new prime minister to organise disarmament, identification and elections.

The ‘pre-regroupment phase’ is to run simultaneously with a pilot scheme to provide nationality documents to Ivorians who have no proof of identity and thus also no voting papers. Questions of nationality are at the root of the Ivorian civil war and many northerners say they are discriminated against and denied nationality and the right to vote.

[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