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BROBO, Ivory Coast (Reuters) - Rebel units were uncomfortably close to Ivory Coast's administrative capital on Saturday but France held back from providing full military backup for its former colony. Witnesses and French military sources confirmed skirmishes between advancing rebels and loyalist troops near Tiebissou, a town only 26 miles north of Yamoussoukro. The central city of wide boulevards is Ivory Coast's official capital and home to a grandiose Catholic Basilica.
Later on Saturday, journalists driving south from rebel-held Bouake to Yamoussoukro met an armed rebel called Hercule some seven km (five miles) from Tiebissou. "We will take Tiebissou," he said. Ivory Coast's government and many of its people suspect neighboring Burkina Faso of aiding and abetting the rebels in order to install a government in Abidjan better disposed to mainly Muslim African migrants than is President Laurent Gbagbo. Ten days after their coup attempt failed, hundreds or perhaps thousands of rebels also control northern swathes of the country bordering Mali and Burkina Faso. French troops have evacuated Westerners from Bouake to Yamoussoukro but have strictly avoided confrontations. Paris has so far refused to activate a defense pact with Ivory Coast, saying it sees no clear evidence the rebels are foreign-backed. "We are mobilized to guarantee the safety of the French community in Ivory Coast and we are also providing logistical support to the Ivory Coast authorities," France's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "NOT YET READY" FOR DEFENSE ACCORD "We are not yet at the stage of application of the defense agreement," a French diplomatic source told Reuters. Ivorian Prime Minister Pascal Affi N'Guessan said on Saturday the government had requested the application of the accord, under which France would defend its most prized former African colony if it were under external attack. "We have activated the defense accord between Ivory Coast and France, and the experts can now discuss the technical modalities," he told Radio France Internationale. Ivory Coast says its own soldiers will do the fighting but it wants transport and supplies. Diplomats in Abidjan say Ivory Coast says its own soldiers will do the fighting but it wants transport and supplies. Diplomats in Abidjan say the army is sorely lacking munitions and weapons, many of which were captured by rebel units. With the region's main powers stepping up to offer help to Gbagbo, the government said it would soon launch an offensive. Key countries in the Economic Community of West African States regional bloc have pledged their support for Ivory Coast's elected government and are due to meet in a summit in Ghana on Sunday to discuss the crisis. Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade said up to 4,000 regional troops could be deployed in Ivory Coast rapidly. The issue will hang over Sunday's Accra summit but it caused a mini-riot in Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou, on Saturday. Riot police blasted volleys of tear gas to disperse hundreds of demonstrators massed outside Ivory Coast's embassy. The protesters were demanding the embassy lower its flag after Burkinabe consulates in Ivory Coast's main cities of Abidjan and Bouake were attacked by mobs this week. More than three million Burkinabes live in Ivory Coast, many working on the cocoa and coffee plantations which provide much of the country's wealth. The crowd chanted "Gbagbo, murderer" and waved placards saying "If Africa wants peace, Gbagbo must go." (Additional reporting by David Clarke in Ouagadougou) "Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man's growth without destroying his roots." - Frank A. Clark Do you Yahoo!? New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo! |