Ivorians mark war anniversary

By Paul Welsh
BBC West Africa correspondent, Abidjan

The people of Ivory Coast in West Africa are marking the first anniversary of the uprising which plunged the most stable nation in the region into war.

French troops stand between the two sides.

Flowers have already been laid in public places in memory of the hundreds who were killed in the first days of the uprising last year, and the thousands who have died since.

More wreaths will be laid later at the war memorial in the main city, Abidjan, and a five-minute silence has been called across the country at midday.

There has been progress towards a lasting peace, but the country is still unstable.

Instability

The war was officially declared over by both sides in May, rebels have become ministers, an amnesty has been agreed, but the country is still spilt in two with French troops standing between the two sides.

Award-winning photograph showing Ivorian rebels with a captured government soldier in October 2002

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There have been persistent rumours of more coup plots recently and many arrests have been made here and in what used to be the colonial power, France.

Government forces are on the streets of Abidjan in noticeably larger numbers than during the last year, backed up by heavy mobile machine guns and armoured vehicles and both sides have been re-arming and retraining.

They will be holding military parades on both sides of the divide during the day, remembering their dead.

More civilians have died here than fighting men, many of them victims of the ethnic divisions which the uprising unearthed.

Regional woes

It has been a difficult and costly year for this country but in this troubled region it is not alone.

Along the west African coastline there has been a coup in Guinea Bissau, an attempted coup in Sierra Leone and fierce battles in Liberia.

And that is aside from coups in Mauritania and Cape Verde and an uprising in Niger.

And as always, it is the civilians caught up in the troubles who have suffered most.

Last year, thousands of them died and millions more were forced to leave their homes.

Threats remain

A pessimist would say it has simply been more of the same and that it will continue that way.

Both sides have been re-arming

An optimist would point to Sierra Leone, where life is returning to normal, watched over by the biggest UN mission in the world.

He can also point to Liberia, where a ceasefire is in place and where President Taylor has gone, and to Ivory Coast, where there have been real moves towards peace.

But President Taylor is accused of continuing to try to run Liberia from abroad, with several calls each day to ministers. Ivory Coast's Government and rebels still distrust each other and refuse to disarm.

In Sierra Leone corruption - the very thing which began its long civil war - is still rife.

And the region's lack of real democracy and accountability is its greatest threat.

In Guinea Bissau this week another example of those who believe the only effective way to get change is to take up weapons, because their voices aren't heard otherwise.