Ending of The Conflict: 2005-2007
As of 8 November 2004, expatriate Westerners (French mainly, but also Moroccan, German, Spanish, British, Dutch, Swiss, Canadian, and American) in Côte d'Ivoire chose to leave. On 13 November, President of the Ivorian National Assembly Mamadou Coulibaly (FPI) declared that the government of the Ivory Coast did not take any responsibility in the bombardment of 6 November, and announced its intention of approaching the International Court of Justice:
- for the destruction of the Ivory Coast Air force, only recently re-equipped;
- for activities by the French Army responsible for several deaths.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Laurent Gbagbo called into question even the French deaths. Lastly, on the morning of 13 November 2600 expatriate French had returned to France, and 1600 other European expatriates had left.
The United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1572 (2004) on 15 November, enforcing an arms embargo on the parties.
A meeting of the Ivorian political leaders, moderated by South African President Thabo Mbeki was held in Pretoria from 3 to 6 April 2005. The resulting Pretoria Agreement declared the immediate and final cessation of all hostilities and the end of the war throughout the national territory. Rebel forces started to withdraw heavy weapons from the front line on 21 April.
Presidential elections were due to be held on 30 October 2005, but in September the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, announced that the planned elections could not be held in time. On 11 October 2005, an alliance of Côte d'Ivoire's main opposition parties called on the UN to reject African Union proposals to keep President Laurent Gbagbo in office for up to an additional 12 months beyond the end of his mandate; however, the Security Council approved this a few days later. The Côte d'Ivoire national football team helped secure a truce in 2006 when it qualified for the World Cup and convinced Gbagbo to restart peace talks. It also helped further reduce tensions between government and rebel forces in 2007 by playing a match in the rebel capital of Bouaké, an occasion that brought both armies together peacefully for the first time. In late 2006, the elections were again delayed, this time until October 2007.
On 4 March 2007, a peace agreement was signed between the government and the New Forces in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. New Forces leader Guillaume Soro was subsequently appointed prime minister and took office in early April. On 16 April, in the presence of Gbagbo and Soro, the UN buffer zone between the two sides began to be dismantled, and government and New Forces soldiers paraded together for the first time. Gbagbo declared that the war was over.
On 19 May, the disarmament of pro-government militia began as the Resistance Forces of the Great West gave up over a thousand weapons in a ceremony in Guiglo, at which Gbagbo was present.
Central government administration began returning to the New Forces-held areas in June, with the first new prefect in the north being installed on 18 June in Bouaké.
On 29 June, rockets were fired at Soro's plane at the airport in Bouaké, significantly damaging the plane. Soro was unhurt, although four others were said to have been killed and ten were said to have been wounded.
Gbagbo visited the north for the first time since the outbreak of the war for a disarmament ceremony, the "peace flame", on 30 July; Soro was also present. This ceremony involved burning weapons to symbolize the end of the conflict. It was previously planned for 30 June and then for 5 July, but was delayed. At the ceremony, Gbagbo declared the war over and said that the country should move quickly to elections, which were planned for 2008.
On 27 November 2007, Gbagbo and Soro signed another agreement in Ouagadougou, this one to hold the planned election before the end of June 2008. On 28 November, Gbagbo flew to Korhogo, then to Soro's native Ferkessedougou, at the start of a three-day visit to the far north, the first time he had been to that part of the country since the outbreak of the war, marking another step toward reconciliation. On 22 December, a disarmament process planned to take place over the course of three months began with government soldiers and former rebels withdrawing from their positions near what had been the buffer zone; the forces of the two sides respectively went to barracks in Yamoussoukro and Bouaké. Gbagbo and Soro were present at Tiébissou to mark the event; Gbagbo said that, as a result, the front lines of the conflict no longer existed, and Soro said that it "effectively, concretely marks the beginning of disarmament".
Read more about this topic: First Ivorian Civil War