Ivory Coast armed forces and the country’s rebel movements signed a total ceasefire accord to end their seven-and-a-half-month-old civil war as fresh skirmishes broke out in the west of the country.
The agreement was signed by Ivory Coast armed forces chief General Mathias Doue and Colonel Michel Gueu, military leader of the largest rebel group, the Popular Movement for Ivory Coast (MPCI). Gueu is also the new reconciliation government’s sports minister. However, within hours of the signing, Guillaume Gbatto, a spokesman for the rebel Popular Movement of Ivory Coast’s Far West (MPIGO), which has operated near the border with Liberia, told AFP that pro-government forces had launched an attack during the morning in the western region of Danane. He charged that the attacking forces were seeking to retake positions from the rebels in the final hours before the ceasefire was to come into force at midnight under the peace agreement. Full Story
