[allAfrica.com] Ivory Coast Army Recaptures Key Town Vanguard (Lagos) NEWS October 18, 2002 Posted to the web October 18, 2002 IVORY Coast's army recaptured a key town yesterday, one day after rebels in the west African country called off ceasefire talks and President Laurent Gbagbo vowed to end their month-long uprising within the week. Loyalist forces and the rebels waged a fierce battle Monday and during the night for Daloa, the country's third-largest city and a gateway to the western cocoa-growing region, witnesses said by telephone. Four Angolan armored transport vehicles fought alongside government troops in the battle for the city, and Angolan "technical advisers" backed the loyalist soldiers, one source said. The rebel soldiers had taken the city with little resistance on Sunday. Many of the government forces had fled before the rebels arrived. The arrival of reinforcements from Angola prompted the rebels to call off ceasefire talks on Monday. "The MPCI (Ivory Coast Patriotic Movement) is suspending all participation in any mediation so long as Angolan troops called by Mr. Gbagbo remain on our country's soil," rebel leader Sherif Usman told a press conference in the insurgents' stronghold of Bouake. Gbgabo told state television late Monday that he was bolstering his army's forces and that the uprising would end this week, "either by signing on to peace or by waging war. But we will not wait past the end of this week." "At the start of the offensive that has been launched against us ... I ordered a certain amount of equipment that our army lacked. Three days ago, this equipment arrived ... to reinforce our army's fire power," he said. Two Angolan armored vehicles arrived Sunday at Abidjan's air base, according to military sources, and Angola's state airline TAAG flew a plane that could carry 120 people into Abidjan late Monday. aviation officials said. The military sources said the armored vehicles would be manned by Angolan troops, and that Luanda could well send a substantial number of troops to Ivory Coast, along with more equipment. The mutineers and former soldiers who launched the uprising on September 19 still control the Muslim-dominated north and center of Ivory Coast. But the latest violence buried hopes for a ceasefire. At the weekend, Senegalese Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio had raised expectations that a truce could be near, telling reporters Sunday that he and the rebels "have effectively reached agreement, verbal for the moment." Senegal had hoped to revive a ceasefire proposed by the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which Gbagbo rejected earlier this month. The Ivorian leader insisted the rebels disarm before opening negotiations. Neighboring nations fear the instability could spread beyond Ivory Coast's borders, especially if the fighting sparks an exodus of refugees. The crisis has also pushed cocoa prices to 17-year highs. Ivory Coast grows 40 percent of the world's crop, and the uprising broke out just as cocoa farmers began their harvest season. In the western port of San Pedro, the second largest after Abidjan, banks had closed indefinitely over fears of a rebel attack. Trade was continuing as normal for the moment, but shipping companies warned they could continue only for a few days unless the banks reopened. Meanwhile, the Abidjan Port Authority, one of the most important in west Africa, was barred from unloading containers, officials said Monday. The ban on unloading containers came midday Sunday at the request of Ivory Coast's paramilitary gendarmes, and covers everything being imported, shipping companies said. "In one or two days, the port will be jammed," one of the largest shipping operators in Abidjan told AFP. Goods being exported can be shipped out freely, they said. Senegal's Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio gave details Tuesday of a peace plan he wants to see signed in Ivory Coast and said he was still upbeat even though rebels have called off ceasefire talks. In an interview with Senegal's private Walf FM radio station, Gadio said he sought to have Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo's government and the rebels, who have seized major towns and much of the north, to agree on three key points. "The plan is a four-point one, in which the most essential things are an end to hostilites, the start of talks between the (rebels) and the government, and a strategy to discuss all the problems raised by the mutineers and linked to their country's situation," he said. The rebel Ivory Coast Patriotic Movement (MPCI), which consists of mutinous troops who launched an uprising on September 19 and former soldiers, on Monday suspended "all participation in any mediation" on the grounds that Gbagbo had got military support from Angola. Gadio said Gbagbo had "denied" the arrival of Angolan troops when talking to Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, whose country currently chairs the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The mediator said he had "reassured" the rebels and hoped to renew talks with them later. "We're far, very far from being discouraged," Gadio said. An eyewitness Tuesday told AFP that four Angolan armored transport vehicles fought alongside Ivorian government troops when they recaptured the cocoa belt town of Daloa from the rebels in a fierce battle on Monday. Military sources said two Angolan army vehicles arrived Sunday at Abidjan's air base, and Angola's state airline TAAG flew in a plane that could carry 120 people late Monday, according to aviation officials. The Angolan government has made no comment on its reported involvement in the civil war in the former French colony, which has long been the economic powerhouse of west Africa. In the radio interview, which was recorded late Monday and broadcast on Tuesday, Gadio said Senegal was determined with ECOWAS to pursue efforts for peace. Questioned about criticism from Togo of "isolated measures" taken by Senegal beyond "the decision by (ECOWAS) heads of state", Gadio said that Wade, as current president of the regional body had "the moral duty and the political authority ... to take any initiative to restore momentum so that negotiations can be pursued". He commended the "very good work" done by an ECOWAS contact group early in October after a regional meeting, but pointed out that it had not succeeded since Gbagbo then refused to sign a ceasefire.   =============================================================================   Copyright © 2002 Vanguard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). =============================================================================