IVORY COAST: President Laurent Gbagbo visits the country's north for the first time since a civil war began five years ago

Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo visits the country's north for the first time since a civil war began five years ago. People travelled from all over the country to attend various "reunification ceremonies" which included burning weapons and lighting a peace flame. President Laurent Gbagbo visited Ivory Coast's rebel stronghold on Monday (July 30) for the first time since the civil war and burned weapons at a peace party with former rebel leader Guillaume Soro. The rebel New Forces had seized the north after failing to oust Gbagbo in a coup attempt nearly five years ago. ''Ivory Coast is really a fabulous country. War should never come back to Ivory Coast, this should never ever be repeated. We must find a framework for discussion and leave the weapons behind,'' said Ble Goude, the leader of an influential pro-government group known as the Young Patriots. Gbagbo and Soro, who was made prime minister in April under the terms of the latest peace deal, used an Olympic-style torch to set fire to hundreds of weapons stacked in a pile in the middle of the pitch. The ceremony - held in the former rebel stronghold of Bouake - is meant as the symbolic start of a disarmament process, the details of which still have to be agreed on by the rebels. "I was cut off from Bouake for four, five years. I'm moved but I am happy. I am happy because the country has regained its unity. It's really all I was aiming for. I'm happy," Gbagbo said. Gbagbo has declared Monday a public holiday. ''I call him, today, President Laurent Gbagbo, because he's the president of Ivory Coast, he is not the president of an individual, neither for me or anyone else, he's the president of the entire Ivorian nation and we are proud of him for having accepted to come amongst us here in Bouake,'' said Diakete Lancine, a resident of Bouake. Security was tight with large numbers of government soldiers, bright orange bands on their arms, mixing with rebel New Forces soldiers in the main roads in and out of town. ''There is nothing to fear anymore, we should be able to go, peace is here and everything should go back to normal now that security is restored," said Boniface Konan, the commander of the country's armed forces. Gbagbo travelled by road to the celebrations, which were delayed by weeks due to an assassination attempt against Soro. The prime minister escaped unhurt when unknown attackers fired rockets at his plane shortly after he arrived in Bouake on June 29, but the blast hit four of his aides. Some analysts and diplomats have said rebel factions who feel they have lost income or influence due to the latest peace deal may have been responsible, although neither Soro nor Gbagbo have said who they suspect and investigations are continuing. Among the heads of state in attendance was Blaise Compaore, president of northern neighbour Burkina Faso, who some Gbagbo supporters accused of complicity in the rebellion. He later emerged as the prime mediator and helped clinch the March peace deal. South African president Thabo Mbeki was also present.

ITN Source | August 1, 2007

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