Americans leave Ivory Coast; French say rebels agree to evacuation cease-fire in Bouake

<br>YAMOUSSOUKRO, Ivory Coast (AP) _ A group of Americans rescued from a besieged rebel-held city flew to safety Thursday, and French troops negotiated a cease-fire to allow evacuation of other Westerners.

Wednesday, September 25th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

YAMOUSSOUKRO, Ivory Coast (AP) _ A group of Americans rescued from a besieged rebel-held city flew to safety Thursday, and French troops negotiated a cease-fire to allow evacuation of other Westerners. Ivory Coast declared the city a ``war zone'' and vowed to attack within hours.

By midafternoon, the first Western evacuees _ students from a boarding school for children of missionaries in Africa and a few adults _ landed in Accra, capital of neighboring Ghana and staging point for a U.S. military deployment sent to save Americans caught in the bloody Ivory Coast uprising.

The 18 foreigners flown to Accra included 16 Americans, one Korean and one Ghanaian, said David Queen, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Ghana.

The young evacuees, ages 8 to 18, ``are looking healthy and are in high spirits,'' Queen said.

American authorities said they would contact the children's parents _ many of them missionaries based across Africa _ and oversee reunions, Queen said. Those who want to leave Africa will return to the United States, U.S. officials said.

U.S. soldiers armed with assault rifles flanked the U.S. military C-130 that flew the children out of the Ivory Coast capital, Yamoussoukro. The flight came one day after French troops rescued them from the International Christian Academy on the edge of the besieged city of Bouake following a week of gunfire outside the school.

At midafternoon, another C-130 touched down at Yamoussoukro bearing more U.S. troops for the rescue mission. Unlike Wednesday's deployment here, the U.S. reinforcements Thursday did not appear to be reinforcements.

Another 177 adults and students evacuated from the American mission school left Yamoussoukro Thursday in a long convoy of cars bound for the commercial capital, Abidjan, said Clinton Morgan, an official with the Free Will Baptist Missions of Nashville, Tenn. He spoke by telephone from headquarters of the organization which is affiliated with the school.

Loyalist troops said they held off attacking Bouake out of concern for civilians in the violence-scarred city, which was taken by the rebels Sept. 19.

``In several hours, the national forces of Ivory Coast will be called upon to do their duty,'' Defense Minister Lida Moise Kouassi declared in a statement he read on state television.

Western diplomats, meanwhile, said the full-scale evacuation of Westerners from Bouake had begun. Europeans and other foreigners lined the roads out of Bouake in their cars, waiting for the go-ahead from French troops securing the way.

Diplomats from a range of countries started setting up registration centers at the airport, ready to receive and process their fleeing nationals. National flags fluttered over France's and Germany's station, while consular officials from Belgium, Holland, Italy and Spain set up shop.

Kouassi declared ``war zones'' of two cities held by rebels since a coup attempt last week _ Bouake, the central city of a half-million, and Korhogo, a northern stronghold of opposition in Ivory Coast.

Kouassi said all people bearing arms in Bouake and Korhogo would be considered enemies of the state, and urged belligerents to lay down their weapons.

The declaration came a day after French troops arrived in Bouake to evacuate the first Westerners _ 191 students and staff at the mission boarding school. Most of them were Americans.

``The rebels were ready for a truce to allow the foreign nationals to leave,'' French military spokesman Col. Charles de Kersabiec said.

Immediately after the deal, French soldiers entered Bouake and began securing the four major roads for evacuation.

Bouake is home to 650 French nationals, and an unknown number of other Europeans. Authorities have given figures ranging from 300 to 1,000 for the total American population.

French troops on Wednesday sent hundreds of soldiers in jeeps and at least one light tank to Bouake, setting up camp at the evacuated mission school, to be ready for any evacuation.

U.S. special forces on Wednesday landed in two C-130 cargo planes in Yamoussoukro, 40 miles from Bouake and a staging point for French forces as well. The United States said the forces were dispatched to safeguard American citizens as necessary.

The current uprising is Ivory Coast's deadliest ever, posing the worst crisis to the government since a 1999 coup shattered stability in what was once West Africa's calmest and most prosperous country.

At least 270 people died in the first days after the new coup attempt, which involved a core group of as many as 800 soldiers angry over dismissal from the army for suspected disloyalty.

Insurgents have found some support in Ivory Coast's north, which is predominantly Muslim, and of different ethnic groups than the largely Christian population in the south, where the government is based.

The uprising has unleashed political, regional, ethnic and religious hostilities, fueling tensions and leading to fears of a wider conflict.

On Thursday, regional military power Nigeria confirmed it had sent three fighters jets to support Ivory Coast's embattled government.

``I can't ... say for certain how long they will be there. Because it will depend on the situation in that country,'' Nigerian Air Force spokesman Group Capt. Ibrahim Kure said.

A Nigerian army spokesman denied that Nigeria had any ground troops in Ivory Coast, and declined to say if there were any plans to send soldiers.