Ivory Coast’s former rebel New Forces (FN) marked the completed disarmament of thousands of its fighters on Saturday, under peace accords ahead of next month’s presidential elections.
« The demobilisation has finished today (Saturday), » Klo Fagama, in charge of the programme, said at a ceremony in Dabakala, 500 kilometres (300 miles) north of the capital Abidjan.
The process, which began in May 2008 and was relaunched in June saw the demobilisation of more 17,000 FN fighters, of whom only 5,000 have been reintegrated professionally.
Another 5,000 former fighters in the north will be moved to barracks, before being joining being integrated into the army.
But several sources say that only half of them have been transferred in the politically sensitive and costly operation in northern Ivory Coast, which FN have controlled since a foiled 2002 coup against President Laurent Gbagbo.
Their leader Guillaume Soro was made prime minister under the terms of the peace deal.
The latest agreement, signed at the end of 2008, provides for the disarmament of FN members who have not been demobilised nor made part of the joint brigades to be formed with the army to oversee a presidential poll.
Under peace accords, the demobilisation was to be completed before the October 31 elections.
Elections have been postponed seven times since Gbagbo’s mandate expired in 2005, with the latest delay occurring in February when the head of state scrapped both the government and the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI).
AFP
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