Factions battle in Ivory Coast

BOUAKE, Ivory Coast – Gunfire broke out in rebel-held northern Ivory Coast yesterday, after rebels said their political leader escaped an assassination attempt by fighters loyal to a rival.

Witnesses said they could hear heavy shooting coming from a neighbourhood of Bouake, 350 km north of the main city Abidjan. A rebel official said rival factions were clashing in the town after heavily armed men with four-wheel drive vehicles attacked Guillaume Soro’s convoy yesterday in Korhogo, another rebel-held town in northern Ivory Coast.In a statement, the rebels said several arrested attackers disclosed they were loyal to Ibrahim Coulibaly — a Paris-based rebel military chief known as “IB” — and had the backing of Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo and the leader of neighbouring Guinea, Lansana Conte.”Some of these people (fighters) had previously left the ranks of the New Forces (rebel movement) to base themselves in neighbouring countries,” the statement said.The rebel statement also said order had been restored in Korhogo but residents reported shooting there yesterday morning.The former French colony, the world’s biggest cocoa producer, has been split in two since a civil war grew out of a failed coup against Gbagbo in September 2002.- Nampa-ReutersA rebel official said rival factions were clashing in the town after heavily armed men with four-wheel drive vehicles attacked Guillaume Soro’s convoy yesterday in Korhogo, another rebel-held town in northern Ivory Coast.In a statement, the rebels said several arrested attackers disclosed they were loyal to Ibrahim Coulibaly — a Paris-based rebel military chief known as “IB” — and had the backing of Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo and the leader of neighbouring Guinea, Lansana Conte.”Some of these people (fighters) had previously left the ranks of the New Forces (rebel movement) to base themselves in neighbouring countries,” the statement said.The rebel statement also said order had been restored in Korhogo but residents reported shooting there yesterday morning.The former French colony, the world’s biggest cocoa producer, has been split in two since a civil war grew out of a failed coup against Gbagbo in September 2002.- Nampa-Reuters