US troops landed in Ivory Coast on rescue mission
( 2002-09-25 17:13 ) (7 )

US troops landed in West Africa on Wednesday on a mission to protect Americans caught in Ivory Coast by a six-day military uprising that has left at least 270 dead.

Odd bursts of gunfire broke the night in Ivory Coast's second city Bouake after heavy gunbattles there on Tuesday between loyalist troops and renegade soldiers, who have handed out guns from looted armouries to local youths.

Among those caught by the fighting in Bouake are 160 Americans, including scores of children at a school.

Airport sources in neighbouring Ghana said three US cargo planes had arrived by dawn with 124 troops. A further two planes were expected at the airport in Accra carrying equipment and soldiers to bring the total mission strength to about 170.

Residents in Bouake said key points remained in the hands of rebel soldiers, who say they were protesting at plans to get them out of the army. The government accuses them of trying to seize power after well-coordinated attacks last Thursday.

"The battle was fierce. The others attacked us again, but we have beaten them off again and pushed them far away," rebel Corporal Serge Coulibaly told Reuters by telephone. He said fighting centred on a school for non-commissioned officers in the city.

"Since they have shown no sign of negotiating we will now prepare to move towards Abidjan," he said.

REGIONAL THREAT

The uprising has plunged Ivory Coast into its worst crisis since independence from France in 1960 and threatened to send a surge of instability through the region.

As well as producing 40 percent of the world's cocoa, Ivory Coast is sub-Saharan Africa's third biggest economy, the engine of the French-backed West African CFA franc currency zone and a vital port for landlocked countries to the north.

French troops, on standby to rescue foreigners, sent a unit closer to Bouake from their 200-strong base in the capital Yamoussoukro, 100 km (60 miles) south of the city and 250 km north of the main city of Abidjan.

French sources said they were now prepared for an evacuation at any moment their expatriates appeared under threat.

The Pentagon said it was moving forces to West Africa from its European Command to protect 2,000 to 3,000 Americans in Ivory Coast, which was once seen as a regional haven of peace. US forces in Europe confirmed their arrival.

"They're in closer position to provide protection for Americans citizens and prepared to perform their mission," said a spokesman for the US European Command in Stuttgart.

NEIGHBOURS ACCUSED

Ivorian officials reiterated their belief that neighbouring countries helped the rebels and said the government would lodge a complaint with the United Nations and African Union.

"Our country is under attack by gunmen, professional terrorists recruited in neighbouring countries to kill, loot and, ultimately, if they get their own way, destabilise the state," said national assembly speaker Mamadou Koulibaly.

Koulibaly did not name any country, but Ivory Coast has in the past accused Burkina Faso of harbouring dissidents.

Loyalist security forces at the weekend set fire to the homes of immigrants, mostly Burkina Faso nationals. Burkina Faso has shut its border.

Ivory Coast also shares a border with war-scarred Liberia, where rebels bent on toppling President Charles Taylor have intensified their struggle in recent months.

A 1999 coup destroyed Ivory Coast's stable reputation and hundreds died around turbulent 2000 elections.

But this uprising is the first time the country has been split between heavily armed factions or slid to the brink of the kind of savage conflict that wrecked nearby Liberia or Sierra Leone.

To try to defuse the crisis, Morocco and Gabon invited African leaders to a summit in Marrakesh on Thursday. The Economic Community of West African States regional bloc said its leaders would meet in Senegal on Saturday to discuss the crisis.

There was no mention of the army mutineers, who say they are soldiers unhappy at being discharged in an efficiency drive, joining any peace talks.