Ivory Coast: The premise of war

By on December 17, 2010

The situation erupted Thursday in Abidjan as demonstrators prepared to march with the government of internationally-endorsed presidential election winner Ouattara to the state television headquarters to install a new station director.

The But it was interrupted before it even started, when heavy weapons fighting  broke out near the Golf Hotel where the Alassane Ouattara camp has its headquarters. Prime Minister Guillaume Soro would lead the procession, and a security detachment, including ex-rebel New Forces elements (FN), led the way and took position to secure the event, when the clash with the Laurent Gbagbo loyal army took place, resulting in a toll of thirty people killed and fifty injured. Clashes also took place in the center of the country, by Tiébissou. The fighting has ceased and calm appears to be back in the afternoon of this bloody Thursday. These events were followed with concern within the Ivory Coast and abroad. The French Foreign Minister, Michele Alliot-Marie, called for restraint from both sides, and the U.N mission in Ivory Coast (UNOCI) declared that peace and security must prevail, but at the same time announced their readiness for all eventualities. The United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, reiterated his call on all the Ivorian parties and their supporters to exercise patience and refrain from any actions that could, accidentally or deliberately, provoke violence, while the Attorney General of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno Ocampo, threatens to lunch a prosecution against any murderous violence.

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