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Ivory Coast army denies alleged massacre
( 2003-03-11 08:48 ) (7 )

Schoolchildren shout anti-rebel slogans during a demonstration in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Monday March 10, 2003. Ivory Coast's rebels will cede key cabinet positions in a national reconciliation government if the west African nation's president gives up rights to approve those new ministers, the insurgents said in a release Saturday. [AP]

After the discovery by French forces of "numerous dead" in a disputed region in the western part of the country, the Ivory Coast's army Monday rejected rebel claims that they were responsible for a massacre there.

The claims came as the government said it was close to forming a unity government called for in the West African nation's shaky January peace deal.

French army spokesman Lt. Col. Philippe Perret said French soldiers dispatched to Bangolo, in the cocoa- and coffee-rich western reaches of the former French colony, had seen "numerous dead" and evidence of significant violence.

The region is contested by several rebel and pro-government groups.

Perret could not confirm the number of casualties or the parties responsible.

"We had nothing to do with that," Ivorian army spokesman Lt. Col. Jules Yao Yao said. "The chaos out west worries all of us, but we don't know who" is responsible for the killings.

Western rebel commander Felix Doh, reached via satellite telephone in the area of Man, about 30 miles north of Bangolo, accused government forces of killing hundreds of civilians, calling it a `criminal" act.

Western Ivory Coast has grown increasingly unstable over the past weeks as fighters from neighboring Liberia - notorious for their drug use and indiscriminate violence - have joined in the fighting.

About 3,000 French troops are stationed in Ivory Coast to monitor a shaky cease-fire and protect foreign nationals.

The front between the Ivorian army and rebels from the north has been largely quiet in recent months, although sporadic fighting continues to be reported in the country's west.

A 1999 coup in Ivory Coast shattered decades of prosperity and calm in the West African nation. Since then the country has been plagued by political and economic instability.

The current rebellion, which began on Sept. 19 with a failed coup attempt, has displaced more than 1 million people, according to the United Nations.

Presidential spokesman Toussaint Alain said Monday the government estimates the war has killed at least 3,000 people, blaming Liberian fighters in the west for the most serious violence.

Meanwhile, in the commercial center Abidjan, Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo met Monday with officials from the United Nations, African Union and a West African economic bloc to discuss an agreement reached over the weekend concerning the allotment of ministry posts in a reconciliation government.

A coalition government was first proposed in a Jan. 24 French-brokered peace accord, but has yet to be implemented.

Prime Minister Seydou Diarra - appointed as part of the peace accord - said the new government would be revealed in the political capital, Yamoussoukro, on Thursday.

Rebel leader Guillaume Soro said late Monday that all rebel movements would be represented in meetings with Ivorian government officials in Yamoussoukro starting on Tuesday to begin selecting individuals for ministry posts.

It would be the first official trip for rebel leaders into government-held territory since the conflict began.

(AP)