Condemning violence in Côte d’Ivoire, Annan blames incitement by party leaders

Secretary-General Kofi Annan has strongly condemned attacks by a youth group in Côte d’Ivoire at the weekend, saying they were incited by recent “inflammatory statements” made by the leadership of the Front Populaire Ivoirien party with the aim of disrupting the identification process leading to national elections in the divided country.

“The violence resulted in the loss of human lives and an attack by Young Patriots on the vehicle of the High Representative for Elections, Mr. Gérard Stoudmann,” Mr. Annan’s spokesman said today in a statement, referring to the group of young supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo that has also been blamed for the January destruction of United Nations offices during violent protests in the western town of Guiglo.

In condemning such acts of violence, the statement added that they were in breach of the agreements reached among Ivorian parties, including those made at the meeting of high officials Mr. Annan convened in the country’s capital, Yamoussoukro, on 5 July.

Mr. Annan urged all Ivorian parties to extend their full cooperation to Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny, as the Government presses ahead with the simultaneous implementation of the identification and disarmament processes that aim to end the civil strife that has kept the country divided between a rebel-held north and a Government-controlled south since 2002.