Ouattara urges peace after Ivory Coast rival held
Ivory Caost: Ivory Coast’s internationally recognised President
Alassane Ouattara called for peace after his rival was arrested with the
help of French forces, but he faces a huge task reuniting a country
shattered by civil war.
Ouattara, who won a November Presidential election according to
UN-certified results, can finally begin asserting his authority over the
West African country after Laurent Gbagbo was captured Monday - ending
more than four months of stand-off that descended into all-out conflict.
Gbagbo, who had refused to step down after 10 years in power, was
arrested after French forces in the former colony closed in on the
bunker where he had been holed up for the past week, and placed under
the control of Ouattara’s forces.
That leaves Ouattara as the sole leader in charge of the country,
although many analysts say it may not be enough to end the fighting that
has bloodied the world’s top cocoa grower over the past few weeks. “I
call on my fellow countrymen to abstain from all forms of reprisal and
violence,” Ouattara said in a speech on his TCI television late on
Monday, calling for “a new era of hope”.
“Our country has turned a painful page in its history,” he said,
urging marauding youth militias to lay down their weapons and promising
to restore security to the battered nation.
Ethnic violence has festered during Ouattara’s lengthy tug-of-war
with Gbagbo, particularly in the west of the country, with hundreds of
people killed as both sides to the conflict committed atrocities against
civilians, aid groups say.
Ouattara said Gbagbo, his wife and aides who have been detained will
face justice. But he also promised a South African-styled Truth and
Reconciliation Commission to shed light on all crimes and human rights
abuses.
Abidjan, Monday, Reuters
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