trouble in Ivory coast, french to try rescuing foreigners

[Martin]

Trouble in Ivory Coast


French to try to rescue foreigners

A French expeditionary force edged towards the main rebel-held town in the Ivory Coast yesterday as the once stable west African country remained gripped by violence and instability.

Rebels in the town of Bouake threatened to fight to the death against troops loyal to the government of President Laurent Gbagbo.

But it seemed likely that the heavily armed convoy of French troops, ostensibly sent to rescue around 500 foreigners from Bouake, would be used to deliver the decisive blow against the rebels.

The French defence minister, Michele Alliot-Marie, claimed that the reinforced French presence was a precautionary measure to help French citizens and others. About 100 American children thought to be are at a school for mission families in Bouake.

The deployment echoed that by Britain to its former colony, Sierra Leone, in May 2000. Whitehall repeatedly said troops were there only to secure the withdrawal of British passport holders. British troops remain to this day, a major deterrent to a return to civil war.

Mr Ggabgo has the support of Paris and it is known that the French government would prefer a swift end to the Ivory Coast's troubles, which began last Thursday with an armed uprising by soldiers.

Q]

 

[HombrePequeno]

I've been reading about this stuff for the last couple days. What exactly do these rebels want?

 

[etech]

It appears that if the resident pundits and enlightened creatures cannot bash the US then they have no interest in this story.


Ivory Coast Rebels, Army on Collision Course

"....The rebels say that they are 775 disgruntled soldiers protesting about their unfair retirement from the army.
.....
The government accuses them of trying to take power in a coup plotted by former junta leader Robert Guei, who was shot dead by loyalist forces in Abidjan on Thursday. ..."


It looks like a war over money and power, the same as most wars.

edit/
I forgot one of the more obvious regions for wars. Religion.

Rebels and government forces clash; French forces ready for worst in Ivory Coast

"With fears of new fighting high, the uprising was also opening up deadly rivalries between the mainly Muslim north and the predominantly Christian south in a nation that was once an oasis of stability in a region scarred by some of Africa's most brutal wars.

The rebels' choice to take refuge in mainly Muslim cities has underscored the country's regional, religious and ethnic fault lines that lie behind hundreds of deaths since the country's first coup in 1999.

The same rifts have split the nation's security forces. The core group of ex-soldiers behind the uprising are believed to have been purged because they were seen as loyal to the country's former junta leader, Gen. Robert Guei, killed by paramilitaries in the first hours of the uprising.
"

 

[Viper GTS]

Up until two years ago my aunt & uncle lived in Ivory Coast. Medical concerns for their daughter forced their return to the states, had she been born healthy they would still be there.

Rough place, I'm glad they're here & not there.

Viper GTS

 

[HombrePequeno]

Maybe things will all work out in the end.

On a lighter note, Liberia seems to have put down the rebel uprising that's been bugging them for about a year.

 

[Nemesis77]

Let's see, 100 french troops gets you:

10 x Leclerc MBT's (30 men)
5 x AMX-10 (15 men)
5 x infrantry-squads (40 men)
3 x GCT (12 men)
1 x 81mm M61 (3 men)
-------------------------------
=100 men

That's more firepower than your average African country has 😉

 

[GoingUp]

Good thing the French don't have to fight any Germans in the Ivory Coast 😉