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France Sends More Troops to Ivory Coast; 10,000 Rally Outside French Embassy France announced Wednesday it was strengthening its troops in Ivory Coast to more than 3,000 while thousands of government loyalists protested outside the French Embassy, with some calling President Jacques Chirac an "assassin." As many as 10,000 Ivorians, angered over a French-brokered peace deal, staged the latest in two weeks of anti-French protests with reggae songs and slogans against the French president. Wednesday's rally was peaceful but others have escalated into riots, with enraged government supporters burning tires, setting up roadblocks and attacking foreigners - especially the French, blamed for an agreement that would give Ivory Coast rebels control of the military and police. President Laurent Gbagbo, under increasing pressure from protesters and from rebels who refuse to renegotiate the deal, headed to neighboring Ghana for talks on the crisis, a senior presidential aide said on condition of anonymity. In Paris, army spokesman Col. Christian Baptiste said France was sending 450 soldiers this week to join more than 2,500 troops and 200 paramilitary police already in this former French colony to protect French citizens. Protests erupted after the Jan. 24 signing of the agreement calling for rebels to share power with Gbagbo's government until new elections. The deal was meant to end a four-month civil war in which rebels seized half of Ivory Coast, the world's largest cocoa producer and a vital economic hub for West Africa. Rebel groups have sought to overthrow Gbagbo, accusing him of fanning ethnic hatred. The civil war has killed hundreds and uprooted more than 1 million, and recent weeks of protests in Abidjan, the nation's commercial center, caused foreigners - most of them business people - to flee. Stores and banks in Abidjan barred their doors Wednesday for fear of more mob violence, and most schools, which shut down 12 days ago, remained closed. Protesters want Gbagbo to abandon the peace accord and accuse France of trying to overthrow the Ivorian government, which France vehemently denies. Demonstrators are most angered by rebel claims that the peace deal gives them control of the Interior and Defense ministries - meaning control of the military and paramilitary. Gbagbo has postponed a speech clarifying his position, though he has wavered in his support for the peace plan by calling contentious portions of the deal mere "propositions." Ruling party lawmakers urged the legislature Tuesday to reject the peace accord. Rebels, meanwhile, declared they could take Abidjan in two days if peace efforts collapse. The wrangling came as the army and rebels traded accusations of cease-fire violations in the country's west and central regions - fighting that, if true, would mark an end to two weeks of relative calm in the countryside. The claims of fighting could not immediately be verified. French troops said they had received no reports of new hostilities. The U.N. Security Council endorsed the peace deal Tuesday in a resolution that authorized French troops and West African peacekeepers to "take the necessary steps" to protect their personnel and civilians. Meanwhile, the U.N. human rights agency said Wednesday it had evidence connecting death squads operating in Ivory Coast to the government. Bodies of executed people have been found in a forest in Abidjan and death squads have lists of people targeted to be killed, according to a report compiled after a top envoy visited Ivory Coast in December. The 28-page report said "the death squads are made up of elements close to the government, the presidential guard and a tribal militia of the president's ethnic group." Rebels have charged the government with operating death squads to carry out politically motivated slayings. Ivory Coast authorities refused immediate comment on the U.N. report. But the government has denied any connection to death squads, and accuses rebels of atrocities including summary executions, rapes and looting in the areas they control. xponent Only If You Are France Maru rob ________________________________ You are a fluke of the universe. You have no right to be here. And whether you can hear it or not, the universe is laughing behind your back. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
