Author:
Publication: WorldNetDaily.com
Date: February 8, 2003
URL: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30944
French-brokered deal could lead
to Islamic state in Ivory Coast
Christians in Ivory Coast fear an
Islamic insurrection could succeed in creating a Muslim state in the African
nation after the signing of a French-brokered peace accord that gives important
positions of power to rebels.
The majority Christian population
in the south views the deal as capitulation to political and military leaders
in the Muslim north who last September abandoned the democratic process
and resorted to violent means in order to achieve power, according to the
British charity Barnabas Fund. The peace plan calls for a government of
national unity in which rebels would hold the key interior and defense
posts.
Hundreds of people have been killed
in four months of violence and more than a million internally displaced.
Since the agreement was announced, Jan. 25, Abidjan and other parts of
the Ivory Coast have seen widespread protests almost daily.
Last week, Muslim mobs stoned Christian
protestors in Abidjan and Agboville, which led to fighting in which 15
people were killed, 40 wounded and several churches and mosques razed to
the ground.
On Feb. 2, Christians in several
suburbs of Abidjan were injured in attacks by Muslim mobs angered by the
murder of a famous Muslim who also was a member of a mainly- Muslim political
party, the Rally of the Republicans.
Ivory Coast is one of several countries
in northern Africa where Muslims are seeking to expand their power and
impose Islamic law among Christians, including Sudan and Nigeria. Many
Christians in southern Ivory Coast believe neighboring Muslim-majority
Burkina Faso is supporting the rebels.
Christian districts have been targeted
for attack in the rebel stronghold of Boukae, where homes have been looted
and burned. Muslim northerners also reportedly have been targeted in southern
areas loyal to the government.
The fighting began on Sept. 19 when
a failed military coup sparked clashes between rebel military units and
troops loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo's government. Early on, it became
clear that Muslims backed the rebels while the ethnic Ivorian Christians
supported the government.
Traditionally Côte d'Ivoire
has had a reputation as a haven of peace and stability in West Africa where
different religious and ethnic groups have been able to live together in
harmony.
Though Ivory Coast has had a reputation
for stability, tensions between Muslims and Christians have increased in
recent years with the influx of Muslim immigrants in the north, mainly
from Burkina Faso. The newcomers now comprise about one-third of the north's
population.
The tensions have grown as the Muslim
community has sought to increase its political power. In December 2000,
Muslim supporters of the Rally of the Republicans party violently protested
in the streets of Abidjan after the party's leader was prevented from running
for parliament because he was not born in Ivory Coast.
Dozens of Christians were killed
by machete- wielding RDR supporters. At that time dozens of Christians
were killed by enraged RDR supporters chanting "Allahu Akhbar," Allah is
great.