In light of renewed fighting, observers have cast doubt on Ivory Coast's latest French-brokered peace deal, writes Gamal Nkrumah Neo-colonialism has until recently been chiefly associated with matters economic. Today, it is also inextricably intertwined with conflict resolution and peace-keeping in Africa. Former colonial masters have made a triumphant comeback in West Africa in particular. The British have emerged as the guarantors of peace in Sierra Leone, a former British colony, following a bloody civil war. There, British troops stamped out an uprising by the armed opposition Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and helped reinstate the government of Sierra Leonean President Ahmed Tijan Kabbah. Today, the French are assuming a similar role in neighbouring Ivory Coast, a former French colony. But, can the French follow the British lead? Fighting broke out on 6 January between French troops and forces of the two main armed Ivorian opposition groups based in the southwestern part of the country -- the Ivorian Popular Movement of the Great West (MPIGO) and Justice and Peace Movement (MJP). A French army spokesman said that at least nine French troops were wounded in the fighting, which lasted for three hours. French sources also indicated that well over 30 armed opposition troops were killed in battle. The clashes have also cast doubt on the impartiality of French forces. France has been accused, in the past, of supporting Ivorian government forces. But Ivorian officials still publicly lament the lack of sufficient French assistance. The Ivorian government has also enlisted foreign mercenaries in a desperate bid to bring the entire country under its control. A humanitarian tragedy of gargantuan proportions is unfolding in the southwestern part of the country as a result of this intensification in fighting. Humanitarian relief agencies have urged greater regional cooperation. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees' (UNHCR) acting head in Abidjan, Panos Moumtzis, stated, "We are appealing to all the African Union member countries, in the spirit of brotherhood and burden sharing, to receive Liberian refugees who could be evacuated from Ivory Coast. We hope countries will be more forthcoming before it is too late." Massive population displacements are underway. Refugees, both Ivorian and from other West African countries, are on the move to makeshift transit camps in San Pedro, Ivory Coast's second largest port. Conditions in Nicla Camp are said to be particularly bad. There have been serious breaches of the Ivorian truce, signed on 17 October, between the government and the Ivory Coast Patriotic Movement (MPCI) -- the main armed opposition group based in the northern, predominantly Muslim, half of the country. The MPCI is the largest and most organised of Ivory Coast's armed opposition groups. In the west of the country, the MPIGO and the MJP hold sway. These groups are mainly divided along ethnic lines and it is not entirely clear whether they want to join forces with the MPCI in a bid to topple the Ivorian government. Attempts by the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have failed to produce tangible results. The prospects for peace are as elusive as ever. The Ivorian government, headed by President Laurent Gbagbo, refuses to give in to the armed opposition groups main demand that he relinquish office and hold fresh elections. They believe that their favoured candidate for the presidency, Al-Hassan Ouattara, would win if free and fair elections were held. Both France and ECOWAS officially treat the MPCI with kid-gloves to the chagrin of the Ivorian authorities. On the political front, Ouattara's Rally of the Republicans (RDR) and President Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front Party (PFP) are poles apart. The disgruntled Muslim majority population, geographically centred in the northern part of the country, bitterly complain that they have been largely excluded from power since independence from France and favour Ouattara's RDR. Southern animists and Christians prefer Gbagbo's PFP. Meanwhile, Ivorians from the southwestern part of the country are demanding a say in the way wealth is divided and a niche in the Ivorian political establishment. Thus, the country is split along ethnic and regional lines. It is in this context that the preponderance of immigrants from the countries to the immediate north of Ivory Coast have fuelled the concerns of those who back President Gbagbo's government. An estimated one third of those living in the country originally hail from poorer, mainly Muslim countries. The migrants share the same religion, languages and ethnicity as local Ivorian northerners. It has, thus, become increasingly difficult for the Ivorian authorities to distinguish the newcomers from the locals in the north of the country. The more distinctions were blurred, the more tensions increased. Today, things have reached boiling point. It was against this backdrop that French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, paid a surprise visit to Ivory Coast to try and defuse tensions. "Nothing but dialogue will work," warned de Villepin. So far, the armed opposition groups are not satisfied with the Ivorian government's concessions. Nor are they particularly happy with the French. They were especially outraged when a helicopter attack on the village of Menakro by government forces led to many civilian deaths. Unrestrained French intervention may be more than they can bear. Caught in this crossfire, much of the civilian population have been forced to leave their homes with these population shifts further aggravating the situation of religious, regional and ethnic cleavage. Although, both the Ivorian government and the armed opposition groups see the need for a peaceful resolution to the country's problems, de Villepin' s peace mission might not wash with them as many in West Africa still see the French as imperialistic and interfering. France is, after all, Ivory Coast's most important trading partner and its former colonial master. Keen to advance France's West African economic interests, de Villepin's visit is widely seen as a desperate bid to avert a doomsday scenario. Of course, de Villepin's mediation efforts and persuasive arguments for a peaceful resolution to the Ivorian political crisis sound sensible to many West African leaders. Most, however, realise that the key factor is a large French peace-keeping force which must be seen as neutral and unbiased. The French contingency must also be part of a larger West African force, directed by West African leaders. As de Villepin conceded, to the relief of all concerned, the Ivorian problem is an African problem which necessitates an African solution. The French have allegedly not taken sides when it comes to south versus north. Indeed, the French were critical of an attack on northern civilian targets by the Ivorian government which resulted in many deaths. They have, however, been impatient with west-Ivorian armed opposition groups. Crucially, de Villepin's two-day trip to Ivory Coast did result in a tentative timetable for peace. Peace talks are scheduled to begin on 15 January in Paris. The talks will take place in two stages. Preliminary peace talks, limited to the warring parties, are due to take place between 15 and 23 January. From 26 January, the protagonists will be joined by African heads of state and government, the UN, the AU, ECOWAS, international financial institutions and other interested parties. If French diplomatic peace overtures bear fruit, it would most certainly advance French interests in West Africa. The entire region is watching France closely to see if it can pull Ivory Coast out of its lamentable morass.
