President urges giving peace accord a chance

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast -- President Laurent Gbagbo on Friday urged his war-divided country to give a controversial peace accord a chance after four months of war that have crippled this West African economic powerhouse.

Speaking on national television, he dismissed loyalist fears that the French-brokered deal gives the key defense and interior ministries to rebels who have seized half of Ivory Coast.

"Let's try this medicine," he told supporters who have staged days of often-violent demonstrations against the deal.

Gbagbo's repeatedly postponed speech had been tensely awaited since he returned from France, where the accord was signed Jan. 24 after days of negotiations between government and rebel representatives.

The deal calls for the formation of a unity government in which the rebels say they would control two key ministries -- interior and defense -- a compromise that outrages loyalists behind days of rioting in the commercial capital, Abidjan.

Gbagbo assured supporters he had not yet decided the composition of a new government, and that there was no possibility the military would be disarmed.

"My people, I am with you. We are together, and I will never betray you," Gbagbo said. "If I wasn't the president of the republic, I would have been in the streets demonstrating with you."

But he urged Ivorians to "accept the spirit of the accord of Marcoussis ... as a basis to work on," assuring them whatever clauses in the deal contradict the country's constitution were only "proposals."

Rebels insist the deal cannot be modified.

"It was decided in front of the international community," said Sgt. Deli Gaspard, a leader of one of two western-based rebel factions. Gbagbo "has to apply what was decided there."

Unusually large numbers of soldiers and paramilitary officers patrolled otherwise deserted neighborhoods in Abidjan during Gbagbo's speech, which came two hours before the government-imposed 10 p.m. curfew.

Later, young men and women spilled into the streets in the crowded Yopougon neighborhood, discussing the address. In at least one case, a mob set fire to tires and trash in anger at Gbagbo's expressed support for the accord. But many other parts of the city remained calm.

Hardliners in Ivory Coast's military, which has a history of insurrections, had earlier warned they would not compromise with the rebels. Members of Gbagbo's government -- including his wife, who is a member of parliament -- have also come out against the accord.

Hundreds have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced in the war, which has crippled Ivory Coast, the world's largest cocoa producer.

France has taken a growing role in trying to end the fighting, deploying troops to monitor a fragile cease-fire and hosting the talks that yielded the accord.

Earlier Friday, 300 French reinforcements arrived in Ivory Coast on Friday to help "protect and secure French and foreign nationals in Abidjan," said French military spokesman Lt. Col. Philippe Perret.

Thousands of foreigners have fled the rioting of recent days. But up to 15,000 French civilians remain, down from about 20,000 at the start of the war.

The new troops brought France's total deployment in its former colony to 3,000. Wearing berets and carrying gunny sacks, they disembarked from an Air France jet and boarded buses to a French military base next to the international airport in the commercial capital, Abidjan.

The war began Sept. 19 with a failed coup. Rebels are fighting to oust Gbagbo's southern-based government, which they accuse of discrimination against northerners and fanning ethnic hatred.

As tension has mounted, regional leaders have sought to bring the peace process back on track.

The rebels sent a delegation to neighboring Ghana on Thursday to meet with President John Kufuor, head of a regional economic bloc. Gbagbo held his own meeting with Kufuor on Wednesday.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Sergio Vieira de Mello expressed concern Friday over growing violence in Ivory Coast, including "death squad" activity and propaganda carried by some national media aimed at inciting war, hatred and xenophobia.

Earlier in the week, the U.N. human rights agency said it had evidence connecting death squads in Ivory Coast to the government. Vieira de Mello urged all sides to put an end to violence, warning he was ready to advise U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to raise such crimes with the Security Council, if needed.