Ivorian crisis: The UN
technical assessment mission visits Blaise Compaoré

Le Nouveau Réveil -
The UN technical
assessment Mission on the Ivorian peace process is expected in Ouagadougou on
Friday for a meeting with the Facilitator of the inter-Ivorian dialogue,
President Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso. "The mission will request the views
of President Compaoré in this crucial period of the crisis-resolution process,
in order to report to the United Nations Secretary-General", Hamadoun Touré,
spokesman of the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), said during UNOCI's
weekly press conference.

 

Crisis resolution- The head of
the UN assessment mission on disarmament: the parties are not opposed on the
issue// Raisedon Zenenga: "we see an obvious will to propose solutions".

Fraternité Matin  -
Yesterday the head of the UN assessment mission, Raisedon Zenenga, and
his team held a working session with the Minister of the Defence, Amani
N'Guessan, at his office. There, too, the feeling of satisfaction was confirmed.
On the specific issue of disarmament, which seems to be the bone of contention
between the Presidential camp and the Forces Nouvelles, the UN diplomat said he
did not get the feeling that there was a controversy. "With regard to our
meetings, we do not see the controversy you are talking about, we do not see
bitterness," he said. "On the contrary, we see an obvious will to look for a
better understanding and to propose solutions in the coming days. The parties
involved tell us that they are working hard to set up everything needed for the
implementation of the OPA," said Raisedon Zenenga.

 

UN assessment Mission in Côte
d'Ivoire- Djédjé Mady: "The United Nations should take action ..."

Le Mandat  -
The chief of the United Nations assessment team now in Côte d'Ivoire, Raisedon
Zenenga, met with PDCI (Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire) Secretary-General
Djédjé Mady, at the party's headquarters on 14 April. For almost one hour, the
two delegations reviewed the crisis-resolution process. At the end of the
meeting, Djédjé Mady said that Zenenga's mission was not to propose solutions,
but rather to collect information on how to emerge from the crisis and report to
the UN Secretary-General. This is why "we told him what we know about the
management of this crisis and we are waiting for him to do his report and for
the United Nations to draw its conclusion," said Djédjé Mady. He said the PDCI
would like the United Nations to go beyond simply assessing the situation, and
take action so that Côte d'Ivoire can emerge from the crisis in a peaceful and
democratic way. "The United Nations should help us in a more positive and
significant way in order for us to hold elections," Djédjé Mady pointed out.

 

Ex-combatants' assembly sites:
A big disappointment

 

Nord Sud  - The regrouping of
Forces Nouvelles soldiers will be done soon. However, it should have been done
long ago. Money and lack of will are said to be blocking disarmament. In the
meantime, the sites selected to host the ex-combatants who volunteer for the
army have become slums. (...) The funds announced by the international community
are still expected.

 

Hamadoun Touré - ONUCI: "We
have played our part"
(...)

Nord Sud: The fact is that
some of theses sites have fallen into disrepair

Hamadoun Touré:
It is not UNOCI's work to rehabilitate these sites if they fall into disrepair.
If I give you a house and sometime later you tell me that it has fallen into
ruin, it means that you did maintain it.

 

Rumors of attacks on Forces
Nouvelles' areas: the Green Berets of Chérif Ousmane bring out the heavy
artillery

 

Nord Sud  - Chérif Ousmane's
men yesterday combed Bouaké in search of enemy combatants after they  heard a
rumor of an imminent attack against the Forces Nouvelles' stronghold. (...)
According to informed sources, suspicious persons were arrested these days in
Bouaké. "An operation is in progress against our areas. We do not know where it
is coming from. But people are swarming Bouaké on motorcycles, posing as
motorcycle taximen. To verify identities we carry out these patrols," said a
soldier. (...). The Forces Nouvelles have so far made no official statement on 
this operation. (...).

 

Mercenaries present in CNO,
government-controlled areas - Are Gbagbo and Soro preparing the resumption of
the war?

 

Mandat  - (...) Hardliners in
the presidential camp and the Forces Nouvelles are threatening each other. (...)
Despite the arms embargo in Côte d'Ivoire, the two camps are heavily armed to
protect themselves against possible attack from the opponent. In addition to
weapons, other strategies have been put in place to neutralize the enemy. Among
these strategies ... is the infiltration of the enemy camp by mercenaries well
equipped for this mission (...). This explains the presence of mercenaries in
both the government and the Forces Nouvelles' controlled areas. (...) According
to a source close to the Prime Minister's office "Laurent Gbagbo thinks that he
can overcome us with arms or threats. We , too, have infiltrated his area." The
source confirmed that the presidential camp was preparing an attack against the
Centre, North and West. A member of the uniformed forces close to the ruling
party said that there were mercenaries working for the Forces Nouvelles in
Abidjan and Yamoussoukro. (...).