New ceasefire declared to stabilise "Wild West"

A new ceasefire between government and rebel forces in Cote d'Ivoire took effect at midnight on Saturday following talks between the two sides earlier this week aimed at stabilising the volatile situation on the Liberian border. According to diplomatic sources and local residents in the west, the government and rebels both employed Liberian mercenaries in this area. However, the Liberians had turned to pillaging and raiding and were now considered to be out of control. The government said there was a last minute upsurge in fighting near Danane a rebel-held town near border with Liberia and Guinea, on Friday and Saturday immediately before this latest ceasefire in Cote d'Ivoire's seven-month old civil war took effect. However, presidential spokesman Alain Toussaint said on Sunday that 12 hours after the truce had begun, it was holding firm. An army spokesman said the biggest clashes in the run-up to the ceasefire ocurred at Zouan Hounien, a town 30km south of Danane on Friday night, when a rebel force of about 300 backed by armoured cars attacked government positions there. Government forces also came under attack at Grabo, a border town 70km inland from the coast, he added The ceasefire was arranged following talks between army and rebel leaders in Abidjan earlier this week. The talks were also attended by representatives of the French and West African peace-keeping forces in Cote d'Ivoire and military officials of the Liberian government, which is fighting Liberian rebels on the other side of the border. The fighting in Western Cote d'Ivoire has displaced several thousand people, but has made it difficult for international relief organisations to operate in the area. Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, up to 900 French peace-keeping troops from a force of 4,000 stationed in Cote d'Ivoire will now be deployed to the area. The situation in the "Wild West"came to a head following the death of Felix Doh, the military commander of a small rebel movement, the Ivorian Popular Movement of the Great West (MPIGO), on April 25 in circumstances which remain unclear. The main rebel movement, the Patriotic Movement of Cote d'Ivoire (MPCI), which controls the northern half of the country, said Doh had been killed by Sierra Leonean mercenaries who had previously been fighting alongside him. However, diplomats in Abidjan suspect that Doh, a former army sargent, may actually have been killed on the orders or the MPCI. Like the government, it is anxious to push out groups of armed Liberians still operating along the border. Diplomats said Doh's MPIGO and the Movement for Justice and Peace (MJP), another small rebel movement operating in the west, both relied heavily on Liberian irregular fighters.