Liberia claims Ivory Coast border attack
( 2003-01-21 10:04 ) (7 )

Liberia claimed Monday it repelled a cross-border, rocket-supported attack by hundreds of Liberian fighters from Ivory Coast, heightening worries that the Ivory Coast's 4-month-old civil war was expanding.

Ivory Coast's military said it had no knowledge of Sunday's alleged cross-border raid, which Liberia said killed two Liberian security force members.

News of the alleged attack came as talks on two continents tried to end the conflict in Ivory Coast, the world's largest cocoa producer and a vital West African economic anchor.

Ivory Coast's government and rebels opened a second week of French-brokered talks outside Paris, and West African leaders gathered in Togo for a summit on the crisis.

France's Foreign Ministry said talks there were making progress, but rebels in northern Ivory Coast accused government officials Monday of trying to bribe the rebel delegation over the weekend "with envelopes of money," according to a rebel statement.

No further details of the alleged bribe attempt were given. The statement said the rebel delegation gave the envelopes to French officials presiding over the peace talks.

Government spokesman Toussaint Alain dismissed the rebel accusation.

"Each time we get close to a solution, they invoke farcical pretexts to shed themselves of any responsibility," Alain said from Paris.

Liberia's accusation of a cross-border attack heightened fears over the conflict in Ivory Coast.

On one front, it raised the specter that lawless Liberia would enter its neighbor's war. On another, it raised concerns that France would be drawn deeper into the civil war in its former colony.

Defense treaties require France to help Ivory Coast in an attack. France already has about 2,500 forces in Ivory Coast trying to protect foreigners and restore stability.

Ivory Coast's war began Sept. 19 with a failed coup attempt. Rebels immediately seized the northern half of the country and in November opened another front in the west.

Rebels are demanding that President Laurent Gbagbo resign, accusing him of fanning ethnic tensions. Gbagbo insists he will stay until 2005, the end of his term.

Liberia called Sunday's alleged attack "a blatant violation of its territorial integrity" and pledged an "appropriate response." It accused Liberian gunmen of fighting for the Ivory Coast government in the alleged raid.

However, a senior Liberian defense official indicated his country likely would rebuff invaders rather than attack them at their alleged base in Ivory Coast.

In Abidjan, Ivory Coast's commercial capital, army spokesman Lt. Col. Jules Yao Yao refused detailed comment, saying, "We have no elements in the area to clarify these claims."

Liberian authorities say the raid hit the southwest Liberian town of Bin, a logging community. Authorities said the assault began when rockets launched from Ivory Coast killed two Liberian security force officials.

At least 200 fighters then entered Bin and carted off engines, chain saws and engines, the senior Liberian defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in Liberia's capital, Monrovia

Liberian forces responded from a district post, he said.

"Within hours, our men were able to overpower the terrorists and they headed back to where they came from," the Liberian official said.

Liberia uses the term "terrorists" to describe rebels in a northern-based insurgency seeking to oust Liberian President Charles Taylor. It claims the gunmen in the alleged attack were both Liberian rebels and Liberian mercenaries.

In recent weeks, Liberian fighters have emerged in western Ivory Coast, now the war's most active front.

Liberia is rife with armed thugs from years of civil strife. Liberian fighters - including those in Taylor's armed forces - are notorious for looting, raping and killing civilians.

Ivory Coast's government has claimed before that rebels have attacked its forces from Liberia.

Taylor said Friday that Liberians were "fighting on both sides on their own" in Ivory Coast. He called it "unacceptable."

Meanwhile, near Paris, 32 representatives of Ivory Coast political parties and three rebel groups sat down to their fifth day of talks.

Gbagbo has not participated in the Paris talks but is expected to when other West African heads of state arrive.

France's Le Monde daily newspaper said Gbagbo would meet with French President Jacques Chirac. The two will discuss selecting a prime minister to lead an all-inclusive government for Ivory Coast, the daily newspaper reported.

Alain said the peace talks could wrap up early "because the participants will have found acceptable compromises."

"The climate surrounding the talks is serene," he said, without elaborating.

In Lome, Togo, six West African leaders gathered to plan for Friday's regional summit on Ivory Coast in Paris.

In northern Ivory Coast, rebels claimed Ivory Coast paramilitary police seized a member of their movement who was trying to organize a pro-rebel march in Abidjan, the heart of government territory.

Rebels have not heard anything about the man since his detention Sunday, rebel spokesman Antoine Beugre said. Rebels later said they would postpone the march at the request of mediators in France.