French Troops Evacuate more Foreigners in Cote d'Ivoire

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, December 04, 2002

French Troops Evacuate more Foreigners in Cote d'Ivoire

French troops on Tuesday launched a new round of operation to evacuate more foreigners from fresh fighting in Cote d'Ivoire.

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French troops on Tuesday launched a new round of operation to evacuate more foreigners from fresh fighting in Cote d'Ivoire.

French army spokesman said they were evacuating about 80 foreigners from Touba in the northwest.

Touba, like Danane and Man, is among towns falling to the rebels late last week.

The western town of Man were held by the Movement for Peace andJustice (MPJ). Another new group calling itself the Ivoirian Popular Movement of the Great West (MPIGO) last Thursday also tookover Danane, a town near he Liberian border.

The French troops have helped 160 foreigners escape out of Man at the weekend and have evacuated more than 3,200 since the crisisbegan on Sept. 19.

French troops in the troubled country have been deployed to monitor the ceasefire until the west African regional force can besent in to help end the spreading conflict.

As Cote d'Ivoire's former colonial ruler, France has doubled its military presence in the west African country to about 1,000 soldier since the outbreak of the uprising.

The government troops claimed victory late Monday at Man and were ready to recapture more towns from the two new rebel groups.

The two rebel groups, including former supporters of late military ruler general Robert Guei, are distinct from the Patriotic Movement of Cote d' Ivoire (MPCI), which seized control of the predominantly Muslim northern half of the country.

Guei was killed during the September mutiny that signaled the uprising, which have now engulfed the entire country with the activities of three insurgency groups. The MPCI has reiterated that it has no links with the new groups.

Peace talks in Togo brokered by west African mediators have deadlocked with the MPCI rebels demanding fresh elections and the government demanding that the rebels lay down their arms.

The situation has been worsening when more fighters rose up against the government since the uprising, which claimed hundreds of lives and left tens of thousands of people homeless.

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