Timeline Ivory Coast
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East of Liberia, formerly part of French West Africa.
(WUD, 1994, p.759)
Ivory Coast covers 124,503 square miles of tropical forest
and farmland in the south and savannah in the north. It is slightly
larger than New Mexico.
Ivory Coast has some 60 different ethnic groups, the largest of which
are the Baoule, Bete, Senoufou, Malinke and Agni. French is the
official language. Various African languages are also spoken.
Estimated Muslim 35-40%, Christian 20-30%,
indigenous 25-40% (some of whom are also numbered among Christians or
Muslims).
The world's largest cocoa producer. Over 85 percent
of the labor force works in agriculture.
(AP, 9/24/02)(SSFC, 11/7/04, p.A3)
1960 Aug 7, Ivory
Coast became independent from France. Felix Houphouet-Boigny (b.1905)
began to rule Ivory Coast as prime minister. Houphouet-Boigny lead the
country until his death in 1993. Encouragement of investment and
stability made it one of region's most prosperous.
(SFC, 12/25/99, p.A12)(AP, 9/24/02)
1960 Nov 3, Felix Houphouet-Boigny
(b.1905) began to rule Ivory Coast as president.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A9lix_Houphou%C3%ABt-Boigny)
1965 Ivory Coast, formerly French
West Africa, established independence.
(WUD, 1994, p.759)
1971 Abidjan is the capital (pop.
258,000), a seaport town on the Gulf of Guinea.
(AHD, 1971, p.3)
1975 May 25, ECOWAS Treaty1 was
signed. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was
formed in Nigeria with 15 members that included: Benin, Burkina Faso,
Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau,
Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
(www.sec.ecowas.int/sitecedeao/english/achievements.htm)
1980s Felix Houphouet-Boigny built
a $150 million duplication of St. Paul's Cathedral.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R4)
1983 Yamoussoukro became the
official capital of Ivory Coast.
(SSFC, 11/7/04, p.A3)
1990 Charles Taylor began the war
in Liberia from the Ivory Coast.
(SFC, 5/11/96, p.A-9)
1993 Dec 7, In the Ivory Coast
Felix Houphouet-Boigny (b.1905), Ivory Coast founder and ruler since
1960, died. Pres. Henri Konan Bedie took power.
(SFC, 12/25/99,
p.A12)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A9lix_Houphou%C3%ABt-Boigny)
1994 Pres. Henri Konan Bedie, an
ethnic Baoule, won re-election with 96%, opposition claims sham.
(WSJ, 10/24/95, p.A-1)
1995 Nov, Violence caused the
postponement of elections.
(SFC, 12/30/96, p.A8)
1995 Pres. Bedie disqualified
northerner Ouattara from the presidential race and alienated many
Muslim northerners.
(SFC, 12/25/99, p.A12)
1996 The country has been flooded
with 350,000 Liberian refugees, who have fled across the border since
Charles Taylor began the war from the Ivory Coast six years ago.
(SFC, 5/11/96, p.A-9)
1996 Dec 29, The 2nd multi-party
elections, parliamentary by-elections, were held. Eight of the National
Assembly’s 175 seats were contested.
(SFC, 12/30/96, p.A8)
1996 The national debt increased
to $19.7 billion.
(SFC, 1/6/00, p.A10)
1997 Aug 22, Togo-born singer King
Mensah Papavi lived in Paris and was hailed as the best African singer
of 1997. He was backed by his girlfriend Tetia Oyourou of the Ivory
Coast.
(SFC, 8/22/97, p.A1,12)
1997 Dec 25, It was reported that
early marriages in sub-Saharan Africa were still very common. Islamic
law allows the marriage of girls as soon as they can conceive.
(SFC,12/25/97, p.A18)
1998 Feb 5, Kevin Leveille (26), a
Peace Corp worker from Ventura, Ca., was attacked and killed in Tanda.
He had 2 months left in his assigned task of working on water and
sanitation problems.
(SFC, 2/7/98, p.11)
1998 Jun 26, Alioune Blondin Beye,
a diplomat from Mali, crashed in a small plane near Abidjan. He had
just met with Togo Pres. Gnassigbe Eyadema to support peace talks in
Angola. Three other passengers were Koffi Adjovi of Togo, journalist
Moktar Gueye of Senegal, and Baendegar Dessandre of Chad.
(SFEC, 6/28/98, p.A18)
1998 Nov 30, Britain along with
Lesotho, Burkino Faso, the Ivory Coast and Tajikistan signed a global
treaty for an Int’l. Criminal Court to try war crimes. The accord was
approved in July at conference in Rome and 61 countries had signed on.
The court required 60 countries to pass legislation for ratification.
(SFC, 12/1/98, p.A11)
1998 The French documentary film
“Woubi, Cheri” was about gays and transvestites living in the Ivory
Coast.
(SFC, 5/20/98, p.E3)
1998 The film “Nadro” was about
the Ivory Coast poet and writer Frederic Bruly Bouabre.
(SFEC, 9/20/98, DB p.50)
1999 May 27, Police stormed a hall
at the Universite d'Abidjan and brutally dispersed an FESCI student
gathering planning for nationwide strikes.
(SFC, 5/29/99, p.A14)
1999 Sep 15, Police arrested
several hundred political activists and placed Alassane Dramane
Ouattara under house arrest. Pres. Henri Konan Bedie and the ruling
Democratic Party charged that Ouattara, head of the Rally of the
Republicans, could not run for president because his father was born in
Burkina Faso.
(SFC, 9/16/99, p.A13)
1999 Dec 23, In Ivory Coast
soldiers went on a rampage in Abidjan with gunshots and looting in
protest over money and perks.
(SFC, 12/24/99, p.A12)
1999 Dec 24, In Ivory Coast Gen.
Robert Guei declared a military coup and an end to the rule by Pres.
Henri Konan Bedie. Guei's regime was seen as fomenting ethnic,
political and ethnic unrest in a bid to keep power.
(SFC, 12/25/99, p.A12)(AP, 9/24/02)
1999 Dec 26, In the Ivory Coast
Pres. Henri Konan Bedie fled with his family to Lome, Togo, following
the military coup.
(SFC, 12/27/99, p.A13)
2000 Jan 5, Gen. Robert Guei
announced that he was suspending the country's staggering foreign debt
payments.
(SFC, 1/6/00, p.A10)
2000 Jan 30, A Kenyan Airbus 310
crashed into the sea after takeoff from Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Kenya
Airways Flight 431 carried 179 people. 10 survivors were pulled from
the water.
(SFC, 1/31/00, p.A1)(WSJ, 1/31/00, p.A1)
2000 May 18, Gen. Robert Guei
dissolved the interim government.
(SFC, 5/19/00, p.D4)
2000 Jul 23, Voters cast ballots
for a new constitution intended to restore civilian rule. The new
constitution was approved overwhelmingly.
(SFC, 7/24/00, p.A14)(SFC, 7/26/00, p.A14)
2000 Jul, In the Ivory Coast the
military reached an agreement with mutinous soldiers. Lump sum payments
of $1,600 were promised to soldiers, who had demanded $9000.
(SFC, 7/6/00, p.A13)
2000 Aug 30, The elections
scheduled for Sep 17 were postponed to Oct 22.
(SFC, 8/31/00, p.D12)
2000 Aug, Gen. Robert Guei
announced his candidacy for the presidency. He had initially promised
not to seek office.
(SFC, 8/31/00, p.D12)
2000 Sep 12, It was reported that
Waldron’s red colobus, a loud-mouthed, red-cheeked monkey from Ghana
and the Ivory Coast, was last seen in the 1970s and was believed
extinct.
(SFC, 9/11/00, p.A10)
2000 Sep 18, Loyalist soldiers
drove back attackers in an assassination attempt on Gen. Guei. 2
bodyguards were killed.
(SFC, 9/19/00, p.A10)
2000 Oct 4, In the Ivory Coast a
bus-station bombing killed 4 people and a state of emergency was
declared.
(WSJ, 10/6/00, p.A1)
2000 Oct 6, The Supreme Court
disqualified former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara and most other
candidates from the presidential elections.
(SFC, 10/7/00, p.A10)
2000 Oct 22, In the Ivory Coast
elections were held with candidates from the 2 biggest parties
excluded. All candidates from the Muslim north, 40% of the population,
were excluded. The tally was halted when early returns put Socialist
Laurent Gbagho ahead.
(SFC, 10/23/00, p.A10)(WSJ, 10/24/00, p.A1)
2000 Oct 24, In the Ivory Coast
Gen. Robert Guei declared himself the winner in presidential elections
and dissolved the electoral commission that showed his main opponent in
the lead. Protests broke out, at least 2 people were killed and a state
of emergency was declared.
(SFC, 10/25/00, p.A15)(WSJ, 10/25/00, p.A1)
2000 Oct 25, A people’s revolt
forced Gen. Robert Guei out of power. Laurent Gbagbo (55) of the
Ivorian Popular Front was introduced over state TV as the new head of
state.
(SFC, 10/26/00, p.A16)
2000 Oct 26, Dozens of people were
reported killed as supporters of Alassane Ouattara called for new
elections.
(SFC, 10/27/00, p.A21)
2000 Oct 27, The bodies of 57
young men were found outside Abidjan. Ouattara claimed the men were
members of his Rally of the Republicans party and were killed by
paramilitary police. 8 gendarmes were acquitted in 2001 due to lack of
evidence.
(SFEC, 10/29/00, p.A22)(SFC, 8/4/01, p.A10)
2000 Dec 4, Protestors clashed
with riot police in Abidjan. The city was paralyzed and least 2 people
were killed.
(SFC, 12/5/00, p.A15)
2000 Dec 5, Police battled
opposition supporters for a 2nd day and at least 10 people were killed.
(SFC, 12/6/00, p.A18)
2000 Dec 10, Ivory coast proceeded
with parliamentary elections against the wishes of both France and the
US.
(SFC, 12/11/00, p.A13)
2001 Jan 7, In the Ivory Coast
mutinous soldiers attacked the broadcasting facilities and offices of
state television and radio in Abidjan. The coup attempt was reported to
have failed. 32 people were arrested and at least 8 people were killed.
(SFC, 1/8/01, p.A9)(SFC, 1/9/01, p.A15)
2001 Jan 14, Special elections for
26 parliamentary seats were completed in northern Ivory Coast.
(SFC, 1/15/01, p.A15)
2001 Jan 19, Thousands of people
fled the Ivory Coast for Burkino Faso to escape attacks on foreigners.
As many as 10,000 were arriving each week and others were fleeing to
Mali, Ghana and Niger.
(SFC, 1/20/01, p.A14)
2002 Jun 28, In Abidjan, Ivory
Coast, a court certified the nationality of Alassane Dramane Ouattara,
the main opposition leader.
(SSFC, 6/30/02, p.A20)
2002 Jul 6, Residents of the Ivory
Coast voted in local elections seen as a test of whether President
Laurent Gbagbo's government has turned the page on two years of ethnic
and political turbulence.
(AP, 7/6/02)
2002 Jul 8, In the Ivory Coast
local elections meant to close the door on years of turbulence ended
with complaints by angry crowds that they were not allowed to vote.
(AP, 7/8/02)
2002 Sep 14, In Ivory Coast’s
Azagny National Park there were only 39,000 western chimpanzees left of
an original 600,000. The western chimpanzee, one of four subspecies of
the common chimpanzee, was already extinct in the wild in Benin, Gambia
and Togo. It was almost extinct in Senegal, Burkina Faso, Guinea,
Guinea Bissau and Ghana.
(AP, 9/14/02)
2002 Sep 19, Ivory Coast's former
junta leader, Gen. Robert Guei, was killed after heavily armed forces
attacked government and security installations in Abidjan and other
cities in the West African country.
(AP, 9/19/02)
2002 Sep 20, Rebel soldiers dug in
at two Ivory Coast cities, reinforcing positions with heavy weapons and
handing out uniforms and guns to recruits, a day after the government
said it had crushed a bloody coup attempt.
(AP, 9/20/02)
2002 Sep 22, In the Ivory Coast
thousands of angry civilians marched through a rebel-held city of
Bouake, screaming anti-government slogans and cheering the insurgents
behind this West African nation's bloodiest military uprising.
(AP, 9/22/02)
2002 Sep 25, US military C-130s
and US troops landed in Ivory Coast to rescue Americans. American
schoolchildren escaped a rebel-held Ivory Coast city that was under
siege as US special forces and French troops moved in to rescue
Westerners caught in the West African nation's bloody uprising.
(AP, 9/25/02)(AP, 9/25/07)
2002 Sep, In Ivory Coast a
nine-month civil war began. It pitted northern rebels, led by Guillaume
Soro, against President Laurent Gbagbo and fueled anti-foreigner hatred
in the south. Fighting killed more than 3,000 people, uprooted more
than 1 million others and split the country into the rebel-held north
and loyalist south.
(AP, 4/14/04)(Econ, 3/10/07, p.43)
2002 Oct 1, The French bolstered
their forces in Ivory Coast, flying in reinforcements and establishing
a tactical command post for military action in its embattled former
colony.
(AP, 10/1/02)
2002 Oct 16, Rebels controlling
the northern half of Ivory Coast agreed to a truce with the government
they attempted to overthrow.
(AP, 10/16/02)
2002 Oct 18, Ivory Coast began a
new cease-fire ending four weeks of fighting between government and
rebel forces.
(AP, 10/29/02)
2002 Nov 27-2002 Nov 28, Fighting
resumed in Ivory Coast, shattering a month long truce, after rebel
forces attacked government positions in the west of the country.
Government soldiers slaughtered more than 120 civilians suspected of
collaborating with rebels in Monoko-Zohi.
(AP, 11/27/02)(AP, 12/7/02)
2002 Nov 30, In the Ivory Coast
French troops evacuated the city of Man. The western rebels called
themselves the Ivorian Popular Movement for the Greater West and held
Danane. The northern rebels called themselves the Patriotic Movement of
Ivory Coast and denied connection to the western rebels.
(SSFC, 11/30/02, p.A18)
2002 Nov, 52 governments ratified
and adopted the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme setting up an
internationally recognized certification system for rough diamonds and
establishing national import/export standards. This followed meetings
that had begun in Kimberley, South Africa, in 2000. The scheme was
fully implemented in August 2003.
(www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/diamond/kimberlindex.htm)
2002 Dec 19, In the Ivory Coast
rebels captured the city of Man in the coffee-rich west and vowed to
continue their push until they reached the commercial capital, as
French troops prepared to face them.
(AP, 12/19/02)
2002 Dec 21, French forces opened
fire on rebels in western Ivory Coast, trying to stop the insurgents
from pushing past them toward the commercial capital Abidjan.
(AP, 12/21/02)
2002 Dec 30, In the Ivory
Coast a rebel helicopter bombing killed 12 civilians and injured
several more.
(AP, 1/2/03)
2003 Jan 3, Ivory Coast Pres.
Laurent Gbagbo pledged to cease hostilities and send home foreign
mercenaries fighting with loyalist troops.
(AP, 1/3/03)
2003 Jan 4, Ivory Coast's main
rebel movement agreed to respect an oft-violated cease-fire and to
resume peace talks with the government later this month in Paris.
(AP, 1/4/03)
2003 Jan 6, Rebels in western
Ivory Coast attacked French troops and French officials said 30 rebels
were killed and nine soldiers wounded.
(AP, 1/6/03)
2003 Jan 11, It was reported that
former combatants from Liberia and Sierra Leone were pouring into Ivory
Coast to fight with the rebels.
(SFC, 1/11/03, p.A8)
2003 Jan 15, Peace talks to stop
Ivory Coast's descent into war opened in Paris with a stern warning
from France that Africa's future was at stake.
(AP, 1/15/03)
2003 Jan 24, Ivory Coast
negotiators, trying to end a four-month-old civil war, reached a draft
peace settlement.
(AP, 1/24/03)
2003 Jan 25, Ivory Coast Pres.
Laurent Gbagbo accepted a peace plan to end the 4-month civil war.
Former PM Seydou Diarra would lead until new elections.
(SSFC, 1/26/03, p.A14)(WSJ, 1/27/03, p.A1)
2003 Jan 26, In Ivory Coast
loyalists, enraged by a peace deal with rebels, attacked the French
Embassy and army base.
(SFC, 1/27/03, p.A5)
2003 Jan 28, Ivory Coast's army
said it opposed a new peace deal with rebel forces. Ethnic fighting
flared amid violent protests over the proposed peace accord. A 4th day
of ethnic clashes reportedly killed 10 people.
(AP, 1/28/03)(AP, 1/29/03)
2003 Feb 1, In Ivory Coast nearly
100,000 loyalists marched through Abidjan, burning French flags and
calling for the death of the French president in the biggest protest
yet against a French-brokered peace deal.
(AP, 2/2/03)
2003 Feb 28, Ivory
Coast-based mercenary fighters attacked and captured Toe Town on
Liberia’s eastern border. Liberia’s government considered the assault
“highly provocative” and “tantamount to a declaration of war” by Ivory
Coast.
(AP, 3/1/03)
2003 Mar 1, In the Ivory
Coast government helicopter gunships attacked a rebel-held Bin-Houye,
killing 20 civilians and injuring many others.
(AP, 3/2/03)
2003 Apr 3, Ivory Coast's
insurgents ended their boycott of a new unity government and urged the
international community to help make it work.
(AP, 4/3/03)
2003 Apr 17, The Ivory Coast new
unity government held its first Cabinet meeting with newly sworn-in
rebel ministers, even as the rebels accused the government of new
attacks.
(AP, 4/17/03)
2003 Apr 25, Fighters from Sierra
Leone and Liberia killed rebel leader Sgt. Felix Doh near the town of
Gbinta, in western Ivory Coast.
(AP, 4/29/03)
2003 Apr 28, The United States
pledged $4 million to help keep peacekeepers in the Ivory Coast in
addition to the $5 million it has already given to ECOWAS.
(AP, 4/30/03)
2003 May 4, In Ivory Coast a new
cease-fire agreement took effect, just hours after rebels accused
government forces of fresh attacks.
(AP, 5/4/03)
2003 May 12, The UN Security
Council tentatively agreed to send peacekeepers to the Ivory Coast to
help enforce an agreement aimed at ending nine months of civil war.
(AP, 5/12/03)
2003 Jun 17, Ivory Coast army and
rebel forces agreed to pull their forces back from battle positions,
strengthening a cease-fire in the former French colony.
(AP, 6/17/03)
2003 Jun 30, Ivory Coast Rebels
announced that they were suspending participation in the power-sharing
government, accusing the government of violating an agreement ending
nine months of civil war.
(AP, 6/30/03)
2003 Jul 4, Ivory Coast's
government and rebel officials declared an official end to the civil
war, 9 months after fighting erupted following a failed attempt to oust
Pres. Laurent Gbagbo.
(AP, 7/4/03)
2003 Jul 29, In Ivory Coast
thousands of college students rioted in Abidjan, demanding compensation
for a lost school year canceled by Ivory Coast's civil war.
(AP, 7/29/03)
2003 Aug 25, In Ivory Coast 2
French soldiers, part of a peacekeeping force, were killed.
(AP, 8/26/03)
2003 Sep 10, Ivory Coast created a
commission made up of members of the army and rebel movements to chart
the course of disarmament and reunification after a 9-month civil war.
(AP, 9/10/03)
2003 Sep 23, Ivory Coast rebel
leaders said they were abandoning their posts in Ivory Coast's
power-sharing government and halting disarmament.
(AP, 9/23/03)
2003 Sep 26, In Ivory Coast gunmen
broke into a bank and sparked a night-long street battle that left over
20 people dead. French troops rushed in the next day to try to impose
order.
(AP, 9/27/03)
2003 Oct 21, In Ivory Coast Jean
Helene, a French radio reporter, was shot and killed by a police
officer at police headquarters in Abidjan. On Jan 22, 2004, police
sergeant Dago Sery was sentenced to 17 years in prison for the murder.
(AP, 10/21/03)(WPR, 3/04, p.29)
2003 Dec 3, Ivory Coast security
forces fired tear gas at protesters who rallied for a 3rd day outside
the main French military base, demanding that peacekeepers withdraw to
allow resumed government attacks on rebels.
(AP, 12/3/03)
2003 Dec 11, Ahmadou Kourouma,
Ivorian writer, died. His 5th novel, incomplete, was published in
French in 2004.
(Econ, 8/28/04, p.76)
2003 Dec 12, Ivory Coast state
security forces repulsed an assault near the state television station
after a two-hour battle that left 18 people dead.
(AP, 12/12/03)
2003 Dec 22, Ivory Coast rebel
officials said they will rejoin a power-sharing government meant to
secure peace after a nine-month civil war in the divided West African
nation.
(AP, 12/22/03)
2003 The African Development
(AfDB) fled its home in the Ivory Coast and set up operations in
Tunisia.
(Econ, 5/19/07, p.50)
2004 Mar 12, Ivory Coast's ruling
party accused opposition groups of plotting with rebels to overthrow
the government, and it called on militant youth supporters to
"mobilize" in defense.
(AP, 3/12/04)
2004 Mar 24, In the Ivory Coast
about a dozen people were killed during a massive protest march.
(AP, 3/25/04)
2004 Mar 25, Rebels and the main
opposition party, Rally of Republicans, withdrew from Ivory Coast's
power-sharing government after security forces in Abidjan fired on
protesters demanding implementation of a peace deal. At least 25 people
were killed.
(AP, 3/25/04)(SFC, 3/26/04, p.A2)(SFC, 3/27/04, p.A1)
2004 May 19, Ivory Coast's
president fired 3 rebel and opposition ministers from a national unity
government, including the leader of insurgents holding the northern
half of the country.
(AP, 5/20/04)
2004 Jun 22, In the Ivory Coast
dozens of boys and men suffocated in an airless, sweltering shipping
container. Rebels locked up more than 100 people for days. 75 bodies
were pulled out.
(AP, 8/6/04)
2004 Jul 30, Parties to Ivory
Coast's moribund peace process committed themselves again to knitting
their civil-war divided country back together, setting new target dates
for implementation of their peace deal at a summit in Ghana.
(AP, 7/31/04)
2004 Sep 15, Eight French speaking
African countries began retiring over 1 billion in decaying currency
with new CFA francs. Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast,
Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo had until Dec 31 to turn in old bills for
new ones.
(SFC, 9/15/04, p.C8)
2004 Nov 4, Ivory Coast government
warplanes bombed Boauke, the largest city in rebel-held north, in what
a military commander said was the launch of a new offensive to reunite
the war-divided nation. Guillaume Soro, rebel leader of the New Forces,
said 85 civilians were killed.
(AP, 11/4/04)(Econ, 11/13/04, p.52)
2004 Nov 6, Ivory Coast warplanes
bombed French peacekeepers, killing 8 French soldiers and wounding 23.
French forces responded by destroying the entire Ivory Coast air force,
2 Russian-made jets and 5 helicopter gunships.
(AP, 11/6/04)(SSFC, 11/7/04, p.A3)
2004 Nov 6, The African Union
mandated South African President Thabo Mbeki to launch an urgent
mission to resolve the crisis in Ivory Coast.
(AFP, 11/7/04)
2004 Nov 7, Machete-waving mobs
looted and burned in Ivory Coast's largest cities, laying siege to a
French military base and searching house to house for French families
after a day of sudden clashes between forces of France and its former
colony. France seized strategic control of Abidjan and deployed new
forces to stop the rampage.
(AP, 11/7/04)(SFC, 11/8/04, p.A3)
2004 Nov 8, In Ivory Coast clashes
with French troops left another 5 people dead and some 250 wounded.
(SFC, 11/9/04, p.A3)
2004 Nov 9, In Ivory Coast French
soldiers killed at least 7 Gbagbo loyalists in a presidential palace
standoff.
(WSJ, 11/10/04, p.A1)
2004 Nov 10, France and the UN
began evacuating thousands of French and other expatriates in Ivory
Coast.
(AP, 11/10/04)
2004 Nov 15, The UN Security
Council imposed an immediate arms embargo on Ivory Coast's hard-line
government.
(AP, 11/16/04)
2004 Nov 15, France concluded its
evacuation efforts in Ivory Coast, where 5,000 Westerners fled a
renewed civil war.
(WSJ, 11/16/04, p.A1)
2004 The Ivory Coast population
was about 17 million people.
(AP, 9/24/02)(SSFC, 11/7/04, p.A3)
2005 Apr 4, A one year mandate for
UN forces in the Ivory Coast ended. 6,000 UN and 4,000 French troops
separated the northern New Forces rebels from the southern half under
Pres. Laurent Gbagbo.
(Econ, 3/19/05, p.52)
2005 Apr 6, Ivory Coast's warring
factions agreed to end hostilities, start immediate disarmament and
make plans for new elections.
(AP, 4/6/05)(Econ, 4/16/05, p.39)
2005 Jun 2, The US and France
reached a tentative deal to boost the size of the UN peacekeeping
mission in Ivory Coast by nearly 2,000 troops and police to help
enforce a shaky peace deal. Meanwhile thousands fled a region where a
village was burned and 55 people killed by unidentified gunmen.
(AP, 6/3/05)(WSJ, 6/3/05, p.A1)
2005 Jul 23, In Abidjan, Ivory
Coast, unidentified assailants attacked two security force posts,
sparking gunfights that reportedly killed at least four people.
(AP, 7/24/05)
2005 Aug 20, General Mathias Doue,
former head of the Ivory Coast armed forces, said that the departure of
Pres. Laurent Gbagbo is the condition for a return to peace.
(Econ, 8/27/05, p.40)
2005 Aug 30, South Africa's
foreign ministry called a halt to its role as peace mediator in
strife-torn Ivory Coast, saying it was in "no mood" to consider new
demands from rebels threatening to boycott October elections.
(AP, 8/30/05)
2005 Aug 31, In the Ivory Coast a
UN peacekeeper was killed in a knife attack in a northern rebel
stronghold of the war-divided country.
(AP, 8/31/05)
2005 Sep 10, In Ivory Coast
Guillaume Soro, head of the former rebel New Forces (FN), insisted that
his side no longer recognized South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki as a
mediator. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan admitted that next month's
planned presidential election would have to be abandoned.
(AP, 9/10/05)
2005 Oct 6, Africa Union leaders
said Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo's could stay in power after his
term expires on October 30, giving him up to a year more in office in a
bid to resolve the crisis in his divided country.
(AFP, 10/6/05)
2005 Oct 13, The UN adopted AU
proposals giving Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo a year more in office
with the caveat that he cede some powers to the prime minister.
(Econ, 10/22/05, p.50)
2005 Oct 30, Ivory Coast President
Laurent Gbagbo, whose mandate was due to go into extra time following
the west African state's failure to hold elections, pledged to do
everything he could to organize a vote before a one-year deadline set
by the United Nations.
(AP, 10/30/05)
2006 Jan 18, In western Ivory
Coast 4 pro-government protesters were killed when UN peacekeepers
opened fire to repel an attack on their base in a third day of anti-UN
riots.
(AP, 1/18/06)
2006 Jan 19, Violent street
protests erupted in Ivory Coast for a fourth day as hundreds of
government supporters ignored the president's call to stay home, angry
about a deadly firefight involving UN peacekeepers.
(AP, 1/19/06)
2006 Jan 25, The UN said that
thousands of refugees were without help after riots forced it to
curtail operations in Ivory Coast.
(AP, 1/26/06)
2006 Jan 29, Republic of Congo
President Denis Sassou-Nguesso launched his role as a top African peace
mediator, meeting with the prime minister of civil war-divided Ivory
Coast days after taking over as African Union head.
(AP, 1/29/06)
2006 Feb 6, In Ivory Coast 12
villagers were shot and hacked to death in an apparent grudge attack
over a pay dispute not far from the western town of Guiglo.
(Reuters, 2/7/06)
2006 Feb 7, In Ivory Coast the UN
was due to enforce sanctions on three political leaders judged to have
blocked a peace process.
(Reuters, 2/7/06)
2006 Feb 10, The UN said
Secretary-General Kofi Annan has sent Ivory Coast President Laurent
Gbagbo a $3.6 million bill for UN property and equipment damaged or
lost during January riots.
(Reuters, 2/10/06)
2006 Mar 4, Youssef Fofana, the
suspected leader of a gang accused of torturing to death a young Jewish
man near Paris, was extradited from the Ivory Coast to France.
(AP, 3/4/06)
2006 Jun 2, The UN Security
Council added 1,500 peacekeepers to its mission in Ivory Coast in
renewed efforts to restore order in the troubled West African country.
(AP, 6/2/06)
2006 Jun 21, The Ivory Coast
soccer team, the Elephants, won their 1st ever World Cup match in a
Group C consolation game against Serbia-Montenegro 3-2. They lost their
first 2 games against Argentina and the Netherlands.
(http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/worldcup/team?statsId=615)
2006 Jul 26, Pro-government
militia fighters in western Ivory Coast began laying down arms, the
first step of a delayed nationwide disarmament program.
(AP, 7/27/06)
2006 Aug 19, In Ivory Coast waste,
which contained hydrogen sulphide, was unloaded from a
Panamanian-registered ship, the Probo Koala, at Abidjan port and then
dumped in at least eight open air sites, including the city's main
rubbish dump. By mid-September 6 people had died and 16,000 had sought
treatment. Dutch-based Trafigura Beheer BV, one of the world's leading
commodities traders, said it had chartered the ship and said the
material was a "mixture of gasoline, water and caustic washings"
following the unloading of a cargo of gasoline in Nigeria. The sludge
was later blamed for killing 15 people and sickening 100,000 more. In
2009 Greenpeace said it had obtained internal e-mails and other
documents that show Trafigura Beheer BV executives were aware the
sludge was hazardous.
(Reuters, 9/7/06)(Econ, 9/16/06, p.58)(AP, 9/17/09)
2006 Aug 25, A military truck
carrying UN peacekeepers crashed in Ivory Coast, killing six
Bangladeshi troops and injuring 11 others.
(AP, 8/26/06)
2006 Sep 7, Ivory Coast PM Charles
Konan Banny announced the resignation of his cabinet over the Aug 19
toxic waste scandal.
(Reuters, 9/7/06)
2006 Sep 15, Ivory Coast
protesters beat up the transport minister in response to the Aug 19
toxic sludge shipment that sickened 30,000 people.
(WSJ, 9/16/06, p.A1)
2006 Sep 16, Ivory Coast named a
new Cabinet, replacing the ministers of transport and environment but
reappointing most others, after a toxic waste dumping scandal prompted
the resignation of the entire 32-member body last week.
(AP, 9/16/06)
2006 Sep 19, Ivory Coast
authorities arrested 2 French executives of Trafigura Beheer BV, the
Dutch commodities company implicated in the recent dumping of toxic
waste. Claude Dauphin and Jean-Pierre Valentini, charged with
poisoning and infractions of toxic waste laws, were sent to
prison.
(WSJ, 9/20/06, p.A10)
2006 Sep 29, The World Diamond
Council suggested that all Ghanaian rough-diamond exports be suspended
to ensure that Ivorian diamonds were not being illegally exported.
Rebel-controlled mines in Ivory Coast produced diamonds worth up to $23
million that were being smuggled to Mali and Ghana, violating UN
sanctions and funding the rebel war effort.
(Econ, 11/11/06, p.53)
2006 Oct 8, Liberia’s presidency
said ECOWAS leaders, who met in Nigeria on Oct 6, had agreed for an
extension of the term of office of Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo
by 12 months, paving the way for presidential and general elections
there.
(AP, 10/9/06)
2006 Oct 10, A draft UN report
said smugglers in the Ivory Coast were violating a UN ban on diamond
sales, illegally exporting the gems to neighboring countries for
overseas sales.
(AP, 10/10/06)
2006 Oct 13, An Ivory Coast Health
Ministry spokesman said the number of people who have died following
the dumping of toxic waste around Abidjan has risen to 10.
(AP, 10/13/06)
2006 Oct 14, The UN election chief
in Ivory Coast said the war-divided nation's long-delayed vote would be
postponed for another year and should be held before October 2007.
(AP, 10/14/06)
2006 Oct 16, Cocoa farmers across
Ivory Coast went on strike, holding back their crops to protest low
retail prices and high export taxes in a move that could affect the
world market.
(AP, 10/16/06)
2006 Nov 1, The UN Security
Council voted unanimously to extend Ivory Coast's transitional
government for a final year and give new powers to the country's
unelected prime minister to implement a peace plan and prepare for
long-delayed elections.
(AP, 11/1/06)
2006 Nov 7, A shipload of toxic
waste arrived in France for disposal. It was collected from the Ivory
Coast following illegal dumping last August.
(WSJ, 11/8/06, p.A1)
2006 Dec 5, Ivory Coast police
fired into a crowd protesting President Laurent Gbagbo's regime and
killed one person, as political opponents mounted rallies in several
towns in the southern part of the divided West African country.
(AP, 12/5/06)
2007 Feb 7, Michel Niaucel, a
French diplomat with the European Union in Ivory Coast, was shot to
death in his home overnight. Niaucel was in charge of West Africa
security operations for the EU.
(AP, 2/7/07)
2007 Feb 13, Officials in the
Ivory Coast said that Trafigura, a Dutch-based oil trading company,
agreed to pay $197 million to secure the release of three executives
from an Ivory Coast prison and settle claims that it dumped toxic waste
that killed at least 10 people in the West African nation.
(AP, 2/14/07)
2007 Mar 4, Ivory Coast's Pres.
Laurent Gbagbo signed a peace accord with Guillaume Soro, the country's
main rebel leader, calling for a new government to hold elections by
the year's end, and for the dismantling of a vast buffer zone
separating the two sides. The latest deal is the result of meetings
between the two camps that started in early February under the
oversight of Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore.
(AP, 3/4/07)
2007 Mar 20, The African Union
urged the UN Security Council to back a peace deal signed between
Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and the opposition by gradually
pulling its troops out of the country.
(AP, 3/20/07)
2007 Mar 27, Ivory Coast rebels
and mediators said Guillaume Soro, the main rebel leader, will become
prime minister in a new government called for in the country's latest
peace plan.
(AP, 3/27/07)
2007 Apr 4, New Ivory Coast PM
Guillaume Soro, a rebel leader who has controlled the north for four
years, took office, a key step in an accord aimed at bringing a lasting
peace.
(AP, 4/4/07)
2007 Apr 11, The Ivory Coast
government and rebels signed an agreement with foreign peacekeepers to
dismantle a buffer zone dividing the west African nation since 2002.
The deal required the head of the UN mission to sign off on election
results.
(AFP, 4/11/07)(Econ, 12/4/10, p.60)
2007 May 10, Guillaume Soro, Ivory
Coast's former rebel chief-turned Prime Minister, called for the
fostering of new era ties between Africa and Europe, in line with
modern developments.
(AFP, 5/10/07)
2007 Jun 27, In Abidjan, Ivory
Coast, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said his plan for a United States
of Africa should include creating a two million strong army to staunch
recurrent conflicts which have ravaged many of the continent's nations.
He was on his way to an African Union summit beginning on July 1 in
neighboring Ghana's capital Accra.
(Reuters, 6/28/07)
2007 Jun 29, A plane carrying
Ivory Coast's PM Guillaume Soro came under heavy gunfire as it landed
at an airport in a northern region dominated by rebels allied with the
leader. 3 rockets killed four of his team and wounded 14 others.
(AP, 6/29/07)(Econ, 7/21/07, p.48)
2007 Jul 20, The UN said that it
had confined a group of peacekeepers to their base in Ivory Coast after
receiving allegations of widespread sexual abuse, the latest in a
string of accusations of sexual violations by UN forces around the
world.
(AP, 7/20/07)
2007 Dec 22, Hundreds of
government soldiers withdrew from a vast buffer zone dividing Ivory
Coast, the first stage of a long-delayed nationwide disarmament program.
(AP, 12/23/07)
2007 Dec 30, Ivory Coast's New
Forces rebel group, now part of the unity government, accused Ibrahim
Coulibaly, one of its former leaders, of trying to stage a coup.
(AP, 12/31/07)
2008 May 27, UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-Moon said the UN will investigate allegations by a leading
children's charity that UN peacekeepers are involved in widespread
sexual abuse of children. The report by Save the Children UK was based
on field research in southern Sudan, Ivory Coast and Haiti.
(AP, 5/27/08)
2008 Sep 24, A US federal appeals
court ruled Ivory Coast plantation workers, who claimed they were
sterilized by a US-made pesticide, cannot sue the manufacturers and
distributors of the chemical in the US, because they can’t show that
the companies intended them harm. Some 700 workers accused US companies
of genocide for marketing DBCP abroad after the pesticide was banned in
the US.
(SFC, 9/25/08, p.B3)
2008 Oct 22, An Ivory Coast court
jailed Salomon Ugborugbo (39), a Nigerian man, for 20 years for the
2006 dumping of hundreds of tons of toxic waste from an international
oil trader that killed at least 16 people and left more than 100,000
needing treatment. Essouoin Koua Desire, who played a key role in
Ugborugbo's local company Tommy securing the US$20,000 waste disposal
contract, was also convicted and jailed for five years.
(AP, 10/23/08)
2009 Jan 28, French PM Francois
Fillon said 1,000 French 1,650 soldiers would be pulled out from the
EUFOR mission to protect refugees in Chad. He also says France's
1,800-strong contingent in Ivory Coast will be reduced by half.
(AP, 1/28/09)
2009 Feb 27, The UN Children's
Fund said 53 million children are being targeted by a mass immunization
drive against polio in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger,
Nigeria, and Togo. Some 844 polio cases were reported in the 8
countries in 2008, 95% of them in Nigeria.
(AFP, 2/27/09)
2009 Mar 29, In Abidjan, Ivory
Coast, a stampede at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny stadium left 19 dead
and at least 132 injured at a World Cup qualifying match.
(AP, 3/30/09)
2009 Sep 20, Trafigura, a
Netherlands-based oil trading company, said it has agreed to a
settlement with people who claim they fell ill after a tanker dumped
hundreds of tons of waste around the Ivory Coast's main city of Abidjan
in 2006. Trafigura paid Ivory Coast's government euro152 million
(US$197 million) in 2007 to assist in cleaning up the waste without
admitting responsibility.
(AP, 9/20/09)
2009 Sep 22, The UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs announced that flash floods and
lighting have claimed 187 lives and affected 635,273 people in west
Africa since the rainy season started in June. This included 103 dead
in Sierra Leone, followed by Ghana (24), Mali (20), Ivory Coast (19),
Burkina Faso (8), Niger (7) and Senegal (6).
(AFP, 9/22/09)
2010 Feb 12, Ivory Coast Pres.
Laurent Gbagbo declared that he is dissolving the government and
election commission. The move threw into doubt a political
reconciliation process that had former rebels serving in top
ministerial posts.
(SFC, 2/13/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 13, Ivory Coast's
opposition declared it would no longer recognize Laurent Gbagbo as
president, a move likely to complicate his efforts to form a new
government.
(AP, 2/13/10)
2010 Feb 19, In Ivory Coast
anti-government demonstrations spread to at least eight cities. Police
fired on demonstrators at a rally in Gagnoa, killing 5 people and
wounding a dozen others in the latest protest since the president
dissolved the government a week ago.
(AP, 2/19/10)(SFC, 2/20/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 22, In Ivory Coast at
least two protesters died during an opposition demonstration that
turned violent, deepening the crisis sparked by the president's
dissolution of the government earlier this month.
(AP, 2/22/10)
2010 Feb 23, Ivory Coast PM
Guillaume announced a new unity government. The opposition coalition
said it will participate in a new government, raising hope for an end
to nearly two weeks of deadly protests after the president dissolved
the previous one.
(AP, 2/23/10)(SFC, 2/24/10, p.A2)
2010 Mar 4, The new Ivory Coast
government announced it is now made up of 16 ministers drawn from
President Laurent Gbagbo's FPI party and the former New Forces rebels
as well as 11 ministers representing opposition parties.
(AP, 3/4/10)
2010 Jun 12, In Ivory Coast two
people were killed and 30 wounded in a stampede at a reggae concert in
the rebel-controlled city of Bouake. Local reggae star Alpha Blondy had
organized the concert to promote peace and reconciliation in the West
African nation.
(AP, 6/13/10)
2010 Jun 20, Ivory Coast President
Laurent Gbagbo asked a state prosecutor to investigate whether Interior
Minister Desire Tagro has been skimming state funds. Gbagbo
specifically mentioned payments made by Dutch oil-trading company
Trafigura to victims of a 2006 toxic waste spill in Abidjan.
(AP, 6/21/10)
2010 Jul 23, A Dutch court slapped
a one million euro fine on Trafigura, a Swiss-based company whose
chartered ship dumped hazardous waste the Ivory Coast says killed 17
people on its soil. It was also found guilty of concealing what the
charge sheet referred to as the "harmful nature" of the waste on board
the Probo Koala ship that arrived at the port of Amsterdam on July 2,
2006, but was redirected to the Ivory Coast.
(AFP, 7/23/10)
2010 Aug 27, Some Nigerian women
and girls are being forced into prostitution in neighboring Ivory Coast
after being deceived with promises of a better life outside of their
country, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch.
(AP, 8/27/10)
2010 Sep 13, The US government and
the chocolate industry pledged $17 million to help end child labor —
some of it forced and dangerous — in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, where
much of the world's cocoa is grown.
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100913/wl_mcclatchy/3626030)
2010 Sep 22, Ivory Coast began
paying former rebel soldiers who disarmed ahead of elections set for
next month, bringing the West African nation a step closer to ending
years of crisis.
(Reuters, 9/22/10)
2010 Oct 22, Human Rights Watch
said banditry, violence, and rape are widespread in Ivory Coast's
western provinces even as the country gears for historic national
elections.
(AP, 10/22/10)
2010 Oct 31, Ivory Coast held a
long-awaited presidential election, the first since civil war erupted
in 2002 and split the world's leading cocoa producer in half. Pres.
Laurent Gbagbo won 38% followed by 32% for Alassane Ouattara, the main
opposition leader. Former Pres. Henri Konan Bedie came in third with
25% and later endorsed Ouattara in a run-off, set for Nov 28.
(AP, 10/31/10)(AP, 11/3/10)(SFC, 11/3/10, p.A2)(AP,
11/27/10)
2010 Nov 27, Ivory Coast President
Laurent Gbagbo issued a decree calling for a nationwide curfew from 10
p.m. to 6 a.m. Nov 27-Dec 1 to prevent any tampering with vote
counting. Opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara said the move was
illegal and unconstitutional, adding a curfew should only come after
the election if there is trouble.
(AP, 11/27/10)
2010 Nov 28, Ivory Coast held a
long-overdue presidential election set to reunite the country eight
years after a civil war divided it in two.
(AP, 11/28/10)
2010 Nov 30, Ivory Coast
opposition leaders accused Pres. Laurent Gbagbo of trying to steal the
presidential election.
(SFC, 12/1/10, p.A2)
2010 Dec 2, In Ivory Coast
military policemen killed four people at an office of the opposition
presidential candidate, as the country tensely waited for the release
of election results that were being blocked by the president's
followers. Election commission chief Youssouf Bakayoko announced that
opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara had won with 54.1% of the vote,
compared to 45.9% for Pres. Gbagbo. Shortly thereafter, two decrees
read on state TV announced that the country's air, land and maritime
borders had been closed and that all foreign radio and TV broadcasts
were banned indefinitely.
(AP, 12/2/10)(AP, 12/3/10)
2010 Dec 3, In Ivory Coast new
figures put up by a Gbagbo loyalist said that the incumbent president
had in fact been re-elected. They put Gbagbo on top with more than 51%
of the vote by chucking out some 500,000 ballots from Ouattara
strongholds.
(AP, 12/4/10)
2010 Dec 4, Ivory Coast President
Laurent Gbagbo was sworn in for a new term even though the UN and world
leaders maintain his opponent won the disputed election, which was the
West African nation's first since a civil war.
(AP, 12/4/10)
2010 Dec 5, Former South African
leader Thabo Mbeki sought to mediate an end to a dispute over Ivory
Coast's presidential election that has threatened to trigger unrest in
the divided West African nation.
(Reuters, 12/5/10)
2010 Dec 7, In the Ivory Coast
Laurent Gbagbo, the man who the UN says lost the country’s presidential
election, went ahead with naming his new cabinet anyway. He tapped
Charles Ble Goude as minister of youth, professional education and
employment. Goude was sanctioned in 2006 by both the US and UN. He has
been accused of making repeated public statements advocating violence
against foreigners and UN installations and personnel.
(AP, 12/7/10)
2010 Dec 8, The top UN envoy in
Ivory Coast said that opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara had won
the disputed presidential election by an "irrefutable margin" as the
international community stepped up pressure on the incumbent to concede
defeat.
(AP, 12/8/10)
2010 Dec 9, In Ivory Coast
pressure increased on Laurent Gbagbo as continental heavyweights South
Africa and Kenya joined UN calls for him to abandon his bid to cling to
power after disputed polls. The African Union suspended Ivory Coast
until Gbagbo hands over power to Alassane Ouattara, whom the AU and UN
consider the winner of last month's election.
(AFP, 12/9/10)(Reuters, 12/9/10)
2010 Dec 13, The EU said it will
impose sanctions on Ivory Coast unless the incumbent president
recognizes his rival as the winner of last month's election, as panic
spread in Abidjan after shots were briefly fired.
(AP, 12/13/10)
2010 Dec 16, In Ivory Coast
gunfire and explosions shook Abidjan as supporters and security forces
loyal to the two men claiming to be president clashed. An attempt by
Alassane Ouattara’s people to march on the state television building
left about 20 people dead.
(AP, 12/16/10)(AFP, 12/17/10)(Econ, 1/8/11, p.46)
2010 Dec 17, Ivory Coast police
were out in force in Abidjan as supporters of the internationally
recognized winner of Ivory Coast's presidential election vowed to try
once again to seize state institutions after a similar attempt the day
before resulted in up to 30 deaths.
(AP, 12/17/10)
2010 Dec 18, In the Ivory Coast
Laurent Gbagbo, who refused to step down from the presidency, ordered
all UN peacekeepers to leave the country immediately, calling the
global body that has endorsed his political rival an "agent of
destabilization." The UN certified results showed that opposition
leader Alassane Ouattara had won by "an irrefutable margin."
(AP, 12/18/10)
2010 Dec 19, Ivory Coast state
television left no doubt who's in control of the media: Laurent Gbagbo
was shown taking the oath of office with no mention that the United
Nations says he lost the presidential election and should step down.
The UN warned against attacks on its personnel in Ivory Coast and said
it would stay.
(AP, 12/19/10)
2010 Dec 21, The United States
said it has approved travel sanctions against Laurent Gbagbo and about
30 others following Ivory Coast's disputed presidential election.
(AP, 12/21/10)
2010 Dec 23, The UN said at least
173 people have been killed in the Ivory Coast and 90 others tortured
or treated inhumanely because of post-election violence. The UN General
Assembly formally recognized Alassane Ouattara as the winner of the
Nov. 28 runoff vote and rescinded the credentials of the Ivory Coast UN
ambassador, a supporter of Laurent Gbagbo.
(AP, 12/23/10)(AP, 12/24/10)
2010 Dec 24, In Ivory Coast
Laurent Gbagbo, who refused to concede defeat after presidential
elections, faced two major setbacks as officials cut off his access to
the state funds used to pay soldiers and state television remained off
the air in much of the country. The UN said masked gunmen with rocket
launchers were blocking access to what officials believe may be a mass
grave site. West Africa leaders from the 15-country regional bloc
ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, threatened to
send military intervention into Ivory Coast if incumbent Gbagbo refuses
to step down peacefully.
(AP, 12/24/10)(AP, 12/25/10)
2010 Dec 25, Benin said three West
African presidents will fly to Ivory Coast to tell incumbent leader
Laurent Gbagbo to quit or face force, a sign of mounting regional
determination to force him out.
(Reuters, 12/26/10)
2010 Dec 26, In Ivory Coast allies
of Alassane Ouattara called for a general strike to last until
incumbent Pres. Laurent Gbagbo concedes defeat.
(SFC, 12/27/10, p.A4)
2010 Dec 28, West African leaders
Boni Yayi of Benin, Sierra Leone's Ernest Bai Koroma and Pedro Pires of
Cape Verde met with incumbent Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo to
deliver an ultimatum from the ECOWAS regional bloc to step down or face
removal by force. But Gbagbo's government signaled he was unlikely to
agree to cede power to Alassane Ouattara.
(Reuters, 12/28/10)(SFC, 12/29/10, p.A4)
2010 Dec 29, Canada said it no
longer recognized the Ivory Coast ambassador to Ottawa appointed by
president Laurent Gbagbo, and that it would welcome new diplomatic
representation from the West African nation.
(AFP, 12/30/10)
2010 Dec 30, The United Nations
accused Ivory Coast incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo's security forces
of blocking access to mass graves, saying investigators believe as many
as 80 bodies may be in one building that UN personnel are being kept
from entering.
(AP, 12/30/10)
2010 Dec 31, Britain said it no
longer recognized the ambassador appointed by Ivory Coast strongman
Laurent Gbagbo who is refusing to step down after elections widely
viewed as having been won by his rival Alassane Ouattara. Britain said
it would give support at the UN for the use of force to oust Ivory
Coast's incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo if West African nations
sought backing for a military intervention.
(AFP, 12/31/10)(Reuters, 12/31/10)
2011 Jan 3, African leaders
returned to Ivory Coast in their second visit in a week as they stepped
up pressure on the country's renegade president to cede power more than
a month after the election or face a military ouster.
(AP, 1/3/11)
2011 Jan 4, Mediators said Ivory
Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo has agreed to negotiate a resolution to
the crisis gripping the west African nation and lift a blockade around
his rival's headquarters.
(AFP, 1/4/11)
2011 Jan 6, In Ivory Coast
Alassane Ouattara, the man recognized as the winner of the recent
presidential election, called for West African special forces to remove
incumbent president Gbagbo in a commando operation. The UN mission in
Ivory Coast said at least 210 people have been killed there since a
presidential stand-off escalated in mid-December.
(AP, 1/6/11)
2011 Jan 10, Former Nigerian
leader and mediator Olusegun Obasanjo left Ivory Coast as incumbent
Pres. Gbagbo continued to defy the world and insist he had won the
recent election.
(AP, 1/10/11)
2011 Jan 12, Ivory Coast security
forces loyal to the sitting president, who is refusing to cede power,
descended on an opposition stronghold and opened fire for the second
time in as many days, only hours after opposition supporters had taken
to the streets in protest.
(AP, 1/12/11)
2011 Jan 13, In Ivory Coast mobs
and security forces allied to leader Laurent Gbagbo attacked at least
six UN vehicles, setting some ablaze and injuring two people in the
latest round of violence.
(AP, 1/13/11)
2011 Jan 15, The EU raised
pressure on Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo to step down, freezing
assets of the country's cocoa-exporting ports, its state oil firm and
three banks.
(Reuters, 1/15/11)
2011 Jan 18, Ivory Coast security
forces loyal to the incumbent leader who refuses to give up power
opened fire killing at least one person, as military chiefs from
neighboring nations met to plan a possible armed intervention to depose
Laurent Gbagbo.
(AP, 1/18/11)
2011 Jan 19, Switzerland's federal
council said it has agreed to freeze any assets of Tunisia's ousted
president and the incumbent leader of Ivory Coast.
(AP, 1/19/11)
2011 Jan 19, The UN Security
Council voted unanimously to deploy 2,000 additional peacekeepers to
Ivory Coast, where the incumbent president has refused to relinquish
his post to the man internationally recognized as the legitimate leader.
(AP, 1/19/11)
2011 Jan 20, Ivory Coast's
incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo ordered the military to stop and search
UN vehicles, the latest escalation of hostilities between the man who
refuses to leave office and the global body that declared his rival the
election winner.
(AP, 1/21/11)
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Subject = Ivory Coast
End of file.