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Ivory Coast Rebels Say Cotton Funds War, Will Halt
By Abdoul Kader
Reuters
January 26, 2005Rebels in Ivory Coast say they will block cotton exports from the north of the divided country because the government uses export fees to prepare for war. Cherif Ousmane, commander of the northern rebel stronghold of Bouake, met with cotton industry officials and told them late on Tuesday that the Ivorian Textile Development Company (CIDT) would be forbidden from transporting its produce to the government-run south. "The CIDT will not leave our zones with cotton destined for the south," Ousmane told the open meeting. "When its trucks go to the ports, it pays fees and this money is used by (President) Laurent Gbagbo who is repairing his planes to come and kill our relatives," he said.
Government planes broke an 18-month ceasefire in November by bombing rebel-held towns in the north, risking a return to the full-blown war which erupted out of a failed coup in September 2002 in the commodities-rich West African country, the world's number one cocoa grower. One raid killed nine French peacekeepers, prompting the former colonial power to cripple most of the Ivorian airforce and leading the United Nations to impose an arms embargo. The world body has since said it will allow the country's military helicopters to fly again provided they are not armed, a decision the rebels say makes a mockery of the arms embargo.
Still Man Roadblocks
Rebel fighters still man roadblocks along the main route from Ivory Coast's north to the main city Abidjan and have in the past blocked transport for political or security reasons. Ivory Coast had been expected to provide the main boost to West Africa's cotton output in the 2004/05 season as the sector revives after being virtually paralysed by war the war.
Cotton-growing areas are in the rebel-held north and the industry have been hard hit by financial difficulties, lack of loans for fertilisers and smuggling to neighbouring countries. "I wonder if this decision (by the rebels) won't kill off the cotton industry in Ivory Coast," said Nicolas N'Guetta, secretary general of Inter Coton, Ivory Coast's cotton association based in the commercial hub Abidjan.
Ivory Coast produced 180,144 tonnes of cotton in 2003/04, well below its usual 350,000 to 400,000 tonnes, a level which N'Guetta said it had been expected to reach again this season. Overall, cotton firms in eight West and Central African countries estimate they will produce 2.7 millions tonnes in 2004/05, or about 12 percent of the world's expected output.
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