- Tensions are rising in the economic capital of Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, as the announced anti-government demonstrations are approaching. While the Ivorian opposition and ex-rebels are planning a protest march in the city, local troops are concerned by the possibility of fighting and coup rumours. Loyal military forces now dominate Abidjan.
On 25 March, the opposition PDCI party led by ex-President Henri Konan Bédié has called for massive demonstrations against what they call the failure of President Laurent Gbagbo to implement the peace accord. Mr Bédié earlier this month ordered his party fellows to leave the national unity government established as a consequence of the controversial Linas-Marcoussis peace accord.
The ex-rebel Forces Nouvelles, which still control the northern half of the country, last week joined PDCI's protests and have indicated they also may leave the national unity government. The Forces Nouvelles further said they will join the opposition's "large and pacific march" in Abidjan - a city which so far has been the stronghold of President Gbagbo.
The announcement of anti-Gbagbo marches in Abidjan in turn has provoked the increasingly militant supporters of the President, who have announced counter-marches. Among many of Mr Gbagbo's supporters, a rumour that the Forces Nouvelles a planning a coup is gaining a foothold, local media report. Pro-Gbagbo media are nourishing the rumours. The risk of armed fighting between the two groups is generally seen as high.
Consequently, the Ivorian Presidency has decreed a temporary ban on all public demonstrations, also directed at his own followers. Mr Gbagbo however in particular slammed the PDCI, which he says has "decided to join forces ... with the rebels." This, said the President, had harmed "the political atmosphere" and was threatening peace.
While the opposition and the ex-rebels maintain their decision to arrange the Abidjan protest march on Thursday, President Gbagbo has mobilised his loyal troops. The Ivorian city is now dominated by armed troops and the presidential residence area, the Plateau, has been sealed off by the Guards. The Plateau also includes Abidjan's central business district and was to be the centre of the protests.
According to the Presidential Guards and the Republican Guards, the threat of armed fighting and assaults on the President are assumed to be high. While security measures have been stepped dramatically up all over Abidjan, special attention is given to the Plateau. Guardsmen have indicated that the march may be the first step in an assault on the President.
An army spokesman further was quoted by the news agency Reuters as saying that a rebel attack on Abidjan is now imminent. He held that the march was an attempt to bring the conflict southwards, to Abidjan. The city still has subsistent minority of northerners, which are believed to be eager to support the ex-rebels and the political opposition.
While tension is building up, the political leadership in Côte d'Ivoire this weekend nevertheless engaged in talks to resolve the crisis. President Gbagbo received the acting PDCI leader, Albert Tévoédjré, but his attempt to persuade the PDCI to return to government was unsuccessful.
According to the Ivorian Presidency, Mr Tévoédjré nevertheless had reassured the President of the PDCI's desire to build peace and to receive UN peacekeeping forces in Côte d'Ivoire. The UN is to send 6,200 peacekeepers to Côte d'Ivoire in only two weeks, but insists that all parties welcome their troops and that internal peace must already be in place.
According to reports in the highly politicised press supporting President Gbagbo, the planned protest actions of the opposition and the Forces Nouvelles however aim at stopping just this UN deployment by creating political violence. The same media however are nourishing conspiracy theories against the opposition and the ex-rebels, strongly contributing to the increased level of conflict.
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