Like those of other West African states, Sierra Leone's troops are ready to intervene in Cote d'Ivoire now that ECOWAS has approved the intervention plan.
Sierra Leone troops ready for Cote d?Ivoire
As time continues to rapidly run out for Laurent Gbagbo, the Ivorian ex-president who has refused to give up power after an electoral defeat late last year, the Sierra Leone military bosses have announced that they will send a contingent together with other West African countries to forcibly remove Gbagbo from power.
Several delegations have been in Abidjan, the Ivorian capital, over the last couple of weeks including three West African heads of state representing the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Prime Minister of of Kenya Raila Odinga (representing the the African Union, the continental body). Each time they went back home empty handed. Infact Gbagbo has announced that Odinga (who he accused of supporting Ouattara, the man said to have won the election) is no longer welcome in Cote d?Ivoire.
Due to Gbagbo?s intransigence (he claimed to have won the election and that there was massive vote-rigging in the north of the country in favour of Ouattara), ECOWAS and the rest of the international community have decided to remove him militarily. The UN, which has forces on the ground, has recently beefed up those forces. The French government also has troops there and president Nicolas Sarkozy has warned Gbagbo to expect a military showdown any time from now.
Two West African countries, Liberia and the Gambia, are opposed to a military intervention while Ghana and Nigeria have said they will not send troops but observers believe international pressure and promises of funding might persuade them to change that position. Another factor might be that Ghana and Liberia, two of Cote d?Ivoire?s neighbours, might fear a spill over of the Ivoirian conflict into their territories. Liberia will have general elections this year. So will Nigeria.
Francophone countries seem therefore to be in charge of this operation, hence the recent meeting of West African military chiefs in the West African country of Mali. Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade is totally committed to a military intervention.
According to sources in Abidjan, the military campaign to remove Gbagbo will be launched in Bouake, the country?s second largest city, about 220 miles from Abidjan. The reason for this, according to the legitimate president Alassane Ouattara, is to avoid as many civilian casualities as possible. He said the operation will be swift, intended to grab Gbagbo quickly and take him out of the presidential mansion. Military pundits however say that?s not possible. Civilians will certainly die and many buildings will be brought down.
The planned military intervention, as envisaged, is therefore going to be very bloody and costly in terms of human lives and property. Gbagbo has the support of most of the Ivorian military, which he has packed with his supporters, in addition to hardened ex-combatants and mercenaries from Liberia and Angola and probably Sierra Leone too. Gbagbo has also been feverishly stockpiling arms and ammunition over the last couple of weeks from African and Western sources. He is also in control of the main airports and sea ports.
On the flip side, Alassane Ouattara has the support of well armed Ivorian rebels in the north, a United Nations peacekeeping (very soon peace-enforcing) force, elements of the French army and hundreds of thousands of civilians in Abidjan and other parts of the country.
Sierra Leone, a country with serious economic problems and a small military force, might just send a token contingent in solidarity with the Ivorian people and the rest of the world. Also, Sierra Leonean president Ernest Koroma, as one of the three presidents that were in Abidjan to talk to Gbagbo (see video below), seems to feel a moral obligation to be part of of the ECOWAS initiative.
Sierra Leone?s defence minister, Alfred Palo Conteh (photo) was recently in Monrovia, Liberia, at an emergency meeting of member states of the Mano River Union (Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Cote d?Ivoire) where Gbagbo?s intransigence was roundly condemned.
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