Ivory Coast's government and
rebel forces have started to pull back heavy guns from a
front-line zone policed by international troops, a French peace
force said.
The start of the agreed operation was rare good news for a
peace process bogged down in political disputes, just two days
after the bloodiest episode in the main city Abidjan since a
failed coup ignited a civil war 15 months ago.
The government said 18 attackers and one security force
member died in three shootouts on Thursday night including a
group of men it said tried to attack the state television
headquarters. Rebel commanders denied involvement.
"We have started. It's not a disarmament operation, but an
operation to calm the situation on the ground, to lower the
tension," rebel chief of staff Soumaila Bakayoko told
Reuters.
"I hope our friends in the FANCI (National Armed Forces of
Ivory Coast) are doing the same on their side," he said.
Army officers were unavailable for comment.
Lieutenant-Colonel Georges Peillon, spokesman for France's
Operation Unicorn intervention in its cocoa-rich former colony,
said both sides had begun to withdraw heavy weapons from either
side of a demilitarised confidence zone.
Under plans agreed to reduce tension at the front, both
sides have from December 13 to 25 to pull back heavy weapons.
Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, has been cut in
two by the front line since civil war broke out in September
2002 when the rebels captured the northern half of the country.