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Ivory coast rebels attack french Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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World - AP Africa
Ivory Coast Rebels Attack French Troops
2 hours, 6 minutes ago
By CLAR NI CHONGHAILE, Associated Press Writer
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast - Rebel factions in western Ivory Coast attacked elite French troops Monday, dampening hopes for peace after northern rebels and the government agreed to obey a cease-fire and resume negotiations.
Clashes near the strategic western town of Duekoue came just days after President Laurent Gbagbo and Ivory Coast's main rebel movement, based in the north, consented to meet in Paris on Jan. 15 for fresh negotiations to end the war.
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin drew their consent during a weekend visit to the former French colony, aimed at resolving a conflict that has divided the country, killed hundreds of people, caused thousands to flee their homes and threatened West Africa's already tenuous stability.
The two rebel factions operating in the cocoa- and coffee-producing west did not meet with de Villepin. They have never agreed a truce, and their position on the peace talks was not known.
It was not immediately clear what sparked the fighting Monday near Duekoue, which straddles main roads leading to the central town of Daloa and the southwestern port of San Pedro Ñ both in government hands.
"We faced attacks by rebels on foot on two roads," said French Maj. Frederic Thomazo in Ivory Coast. He said the rebels fired mortars and the French responded.
Four French soldiers were wounded by shrapnel, army spokesman Col. Christian Baptiste said in Paris. Their injuries were not life-threatening, though he said the rebels appeared to have suffered "rather heavy losses."
More than 2,000 French troops Ñ including Foreign Legionnaires and paratroopers Ñ are in Ivory Coast to enforce the cease-fire and protect some 20,000 French citizens and other foreign nationals.
The leader of one western rebel faction said he ordered attacks because Ivorian government forces bombed his positions this weekend.
"I have ordered my men to attack everywhere and to head for Abidjan," Sgt. Felix Doh said by satellite telephone. Doh has repeatedly threatened to march on Abidjan, the commercial capital some 310 miles southeast of Duekoue, which is the key to control of Ivory Coast.
But an Ivorian army spokesman said government forces halted all operations in the west after Gbagbo declared a suspension of hostilities Friday.
Doh's rebel faction has clashed several times with French troops, who have dug in around Duekoue, manning checkpoints with anti-tank missiles and rocket launchers.
Thomazo said there were two attacks on French positions Monday: one on the road north from Duekoue to the rebel-held city of Man, some 60 miles away, and the second on a dirt road northeast of Duekoue.
Northern rebels, after meeting with de Villepin, had said they would inform western factions about the decision to respect a nationwide cease-fire.
But Baptiste said Monday's attacks showed at least some rebels in the west "don't seem to associate themselves at all" with the northern factions' decision.
"We are asking ourselves lots of questions about the number of uncontrolled groups in this region," he said. "The objectives pursued by one seem to be different from those pursued by another."
He said France would not allow any rebel groups to endanger French citizens or jeopardize the "relative stability" prevailing since the truce was re-established.
Ivory Coast's conflict began when the northern rebels tried to oust Gbagbo on Sept. 19 and seized half the country. They agreed on a cease-fire with the government in October, but peace talks in nearby Togo yielded little and fighting resumed within weeks.
The two western factions emerged later, reportedly joined by Liberian fighters notorious for drug use and extreme violence.
After French forces blocked an eastern advance, the western rebels began pushing south last week toward San Pedro. Ivory Coast is the world's largest producer of cocoa, and much of the rich harvest is shipped through San Pedro.
All the rebels want Gbagbo to resign, arguing in part that his government fans ethnic hatred. The government says that is out of the question and insists the rebels disarm.
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