Three names submitted for sanctions

A group of UN Security Council members has put forward a list of three political figures from Cote d’Ivoire who could face sanctions for inciting violence or blocking peace efforts in the divided West African nation, diplomats said on Friday.

Consensus has been growing at the United Nations over the need to slap a travel ban and assets freeze on political leaders troubling the peace, after four days of violent anti-UN protests last month.

Diplomats said the names on the list included Charles Ble Goude, leader of the pro-government Young Patriots movement that called supporters into the street to demand the departure of UN and French peacekeepers, and Eugene Djue, also a member of the movement.

The third name cited by diplomats who asked not to be identified was Fofie Kouakou, a commander of the rebel New Forces who control the northern half of the country.

Cote d’Ivoire has been divided between a government-controlled south and rebel north for more than three years.

The list was made up by Britain, Denmark, France and the Slovak republic and was to be put to the 15 members of the sanctions committee on Cote d’Ivoire. It would become operative next week if Security Council members raised no objections.

Ble Goude said in Abidjan on Friday that there would be no trouble from his movement if the sanctions were adopted.

“We are issuing a call for calm, serenity and discipline,” he said at a news conference. “The day the sanctions take effect … do not consider anyone who goes out in the street to be a patriot,” he said.