French Ready to Rescue Foreigners in Ivory Coast

26/09/2002| IslamWeb

French troops turned a school in Ivory Coast's battle-torn city of Bouake into a military camp, preparing on Thursday to protect foreigners trapped by an army uprising in which hundreds have died. The French set up their base in the missionary school compound some three miles from the city center after escorting to safety American students and adults caught in fighting in the West African country's second city, in rebel hands since last Thursday.

Gunfire which erupted early on Wednesday morning on Bouake's outskirts died down quickly. Rebels, who have handed out guns from looted armories to local youths, said they beat off a heavy attack by loyalist forces on Tuesday.

"It's the status quo now after Tuesday's attack. We are on our toes, but we don't expect them to try to come back immediately," said rebel corporal George Kouassi.

French officers said further evacuations of hundreds of foreigners in Bouake would depend on the need.

"For the moment it is not about evacuating them if they are assured by our presence and do not want to go," Colonel Charles de Kersabiec told Reuters.

Paris has sent some 200 troops toward Bouake on a mission to safeguard foreigners caught up in Ivory Coast's worst violence since independence in 1960.

The former French colony, once regarded as an oasis of stability in a troubled region, produces 40 percent of the world's cocoa and is sub-Saharan Africa's third biggest economy.

U.S. troops also flew in from Ghana in two C-130 transport planes and set up a staging point in the administrative capital Yamoussoukro, 100 km south of Bouake, to prepare to receive the convoy of Americans

PHOTO CAPTION

Americans sheltering from fighting at a school in Ivory Coast's second city of Bouake were evacuated on September 25, 2002 in a convoy under a French military escort. Scores of children from the United States and other Western countries were among some 160 people trapped at the International Christian Academy by a six-day-old army uprising in the West African country. (Reuters Graphic)