Rebel Splits Add To Ivory Coast Woes

The dissidents were routed by rebels who signed a March 2007 deal meant to guide the country towards the oft-delayed polls.

Divisions among Ivory Coast's former rebels are undermining a movement that controls the northern half of the country as landmark polls appear to slip ever further out of reach.

A post-war presidential election to reunite the world's top cocoa grower was due to take place on Sunday but was indefinitely postponed because millions of voters still need to be registered and fighters on both sides have yet to disarm.

Heavily armed New Forces (FN) soldiers patrolling the bush near the northwestern town of Seguela at the weekend accused locals of protecting gunmen who mounted a bloody raid that killed nine people there six days ago.

Rebels blame "bandits" for the attacks but villagers, sick of violence and delays in a peace process after a 2002-2003 war, say the root problem is in-fighting among the New Forces.

"This scares us a lot. It keeps going because they can't agree. There are splits within their ranks," Amadou Toure said as he sat selling cigarettes on a bustling Seguela street.

"All we want is peace and disarmament," he said.

The dissidents were routed by rebels who signed a March 2007 deal meant to guide the country towards the oft-delayed polls.

The clashes follow similar violence in June and July when men loyal to Kone Zakaria, a sacked local commander, temporarily seized Seguela and nearby Vavoua, more than 400 km (250 miles) northwest of the main commercial city Abidjan.

Zakaria was born near Seguela, and residents say some locals still support him although he is in neighbouring Burkina Faso.

The 2007 deal led French and U.N. peacekeepers to dismantle a buffer zone between the rebels and the government-held south.

But the polls have been delayed by a complicated and sensitive process of identifying who is eligible to vote, a question that has been at the heart of Ivorian politics over the last decade and was one of the reasons for the war.

New Forces deputy military chief Issiaka Ouattara "Wattao", who also replaced Zakaria as local military commander, sent dozens of reinforcements to the dusty, potholed town.

"You see them, you protect them. You do nothing. I am ready to assure your security but you have to help us," Ouattara told hundreds of chiefs and Seguela residents gathered in a hall surrounded by heavily armed rebel soldiers on Saturday.

"We are informed. They are planning another attack. If you see someone suspect, you must inform us to avoid the worst," Wattao, sporting several pistols and gold rings, warned a crowd.

Some in the crowd applauded Ouattara, but a spokesman for the chiefs denied backing the dissidents and called for the release of people the rebels arrested in mopping up operations.

Speaking to Reuters later, Ouattara denied splits within rebel ranks, saying there was "total cohesion". He called Zakaria "a drop in the ocean" who could not block the process.

GOING BACKWARDS

Diplomats and analysts blame all sides for delays.

The rebels are accused of profiting from taxes that should be paid to the central government coffers. President Laurent Gbagbo is often accused of dragging his feet to ensure he stays in power, long after his elected mandate expired in 2005.

"The root problem is about personal interests," said Mamadou Bakayoko, a spokesman for the Worodougou, a local tribe, who blamed Zakaria's men for the violence. "Those people can't get their hands on money like before and are creating problems."

"We have to put the interests of the population ahead of this -- We are sick and tired of this," he said.

Politicians on all sides are calling for Ivorians to be patient and allow more time for the polls to be properly organised, so as to ensure the results are not challenged.

But frustration is growing. "They talk about the process, they talk about identification but we see no results. It is as if we are going backwards," Toure, the cigarette seller, said.