The next Rwanda? ‘In all districts of Abidjan there is gunfire’

[cali]

Special report by Africa Correspondent Fred Bridgland


A massacre in a Roman Catholic mission compound in the heart of the Ivory Coast’s cocoa-producing region could come to be seen as a crucial moment in the West African state’s escalating civil war.

Reports are mounting of atrocities by both sides in the conflict − those loyal to head of state Laurent Gbagbo, besieged in his presidential residence in Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s commercial capital, and those who follow northern leader and president-elect Allasane Ouattara.

Events at the Italian Salesian Roman Catholic mission in Duekoue increasingly echo a notorious church massacre during the Rwandan genocide in 1994.

Early reports suggested that more than 800 people, largely from the Gbagbo-supporting Gueré tribe, were killed in a single day at the sprawling Salesian Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus mission in Duekoue, 300 miles west of Abidjan towards the Liberian border. The attackers seem to have been largely soldiers descended from Burkina Faso immigrant Muslim families loyal to Ouattara.

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http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/world-news/the-next-rwanda-in-all-districts-of-abidjan-there-is-gunfire-1.1094251

[NightWatcher]

1. bet they wish they were sitting on some oil we could exchange for "humanitarian aid"

What's under your feet, dirt? good luck with surviving that one

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. The UN and French are already fighting there

French ground troops have entered the centre of the main Ivory Coast city of Abidjan.

On Sunday, UN and French helicopter gunships began a new operation to destroy heavy weapons near leader Laurent Gbagbo's residence in Abidjan.

French helicopter strikes have partially destroyed the residence of Mr Gbagbo, one of his aides said.

The strikes came after a hotel serving as the base of UN-recognised president Alassane Ouattara came under fire.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13037046

[rpannier]

2. This is looking to be a disaster in the offing

If the accounts of the story are correct we may see another "Same cart new driver" scenario play out.

[vi5]

3. I'm sure the arrival of our military assistance is imminent...

..right? I mean we intervene to save lives from this kind of stuff, right? Just like we did in Libya? Right? Anyone?

[Little Star]

4. .

[pampango]

7. The UN voted to intervene in the Ivory Coast long before Libya. Thousand of UN "boots on the ground"

are there. Something that doesn't seem likely to happen in Libya. :thumbsup:

[vi5]

9. How many of our "boots"?

I know the UN is at least somewhat consistent in their attempts.

It's our own selective humanitarian interests that irk me.

[pampango]

10. None. 9,000 total from 52 countries. Most seem to be from Bangladesh, Jordan, Pakistan, Morocco,

Senegal, Togo, Ghana and Niger.

http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/contributors/2011/mar11_5.pdf

The only UN operations where we have any military involvement, as far as I can tell, is in DR Congo, Liberia, and Haiti.

None in Timor, Ivory Coast, Sudan, Darfur, the Western Sahara, Cyprus, Lebanon, or the India/Pakistan border.

http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/unmogip/facts.shtml

[maddezmom]

6. Gbagbo aide says French forces detained Gbagbo

Gbagbo aide says French forces detained Gbagbo

(2011-04-11)
(Reuters) -
PARIS (Reuters) - French special forces have detained Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo and handed him to leaders of the rebel opposition, after French tanks forced their way into his residence, a Gbagbo adviser in France said.

a bit more:
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wxxi/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1787428/World/Gbagbo.aide.says.French.forces.detained.Gbagbo

[cali]

8. uh oh. I really don't understand why the French handed him over to rebel forces

It seems likely they'll kill him and that won't solve a thing.