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Ivory Coast violence flares again
BOUAKE, Ivory Coast -- Government troops in the Ivory Coast have attacked the rebel stronghold of Bouake following the collapse of ceasefire talks. The country's army penetrated Bouake on Monday after attacking from two sides with mortar and machinegun fire. Residents said groups of rebels roamed the streets, firing occasional bursts. "Two (loyalist) armoured vehicles opened fire on us and burned down the market. This is all we had to eat for tomorrow and it's all burning now," one man told Reuters. The loyalist offensive, which began on Sunday, appeared to have dashed hopes of a truce to end the crisis. France, which has sent over 1,000 troops to Ivory Coast, had urged President Laurent Gbagbo to sign the mediated ceasefire. But Gbagbo's spokesman, Toussaint Alain, said in a statement issued in Paris that the military operation would continue "until legality is restored over all the national territory." Rebels of the Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast hold most of the north in a conflict that has left hundreds dead and sharpened ethnic and religious divisions, as well as terrifying a region fearing the consequences of a full-blown civil war. More than 1,000 French troops have evacuated thousands of foreigners and are providing what is described as logistical support for the army. France's Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin called on Gbagbo to sign a ceasefire brokered by West African ministers who gave up hope of a truce and packed their bags on Sunday. "We have to get out of this crisis through dialogue, through reconciliation," said de Villepin, adding that "there is no military solution" to Ivory Coast's political, economic and social problems. Mediators said Gbagbo believed the ceasefire moved too far from what was agreed at a peace summit last month. "We're ready to fight to liberate Bouke," said Ory Ahypeau, Yamoussoukro's senior government representative. Well over 300 people have died in the rebellion. Most were killed on the first day and in two failed attacks on Bouake. The rebels, some of whom are soldiers angry at being pushed out of the army, want an amnesty, reintegration into the forces and the resignation of the defence minister and army chief.
But they have also said they want new elections to replace a poll won by Gbagbo two years ago amid a wave of bloodshed that set his militants against those of opposition leader Alassane Ouattara, a northerner who was barred from contesting. The rebels, with a core of 750 to 800 ex-soldiers, are believed to have been dismissed from the army for suspected loyalty to the country's former junta leader, Gen. Robert Guei, ousted in the 2000 popular revolt that brought Gbagbo to power. Well armed and disciplined, they are also thought to have received military backing from outside. They hold much of the Muslim north, including the second city of Bouake, while the government retains control of the mainly Christian south.
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