Prospects for early elections and reunification in Cote d'Ivoire, where a bloody civil war remains a vivid memory, cannot be described as encouraging, a top UN official said here on Tuesday.
"Critical elements of reunification are not progressing as envisioned," the UN envoy to Cote d'Ivoire, Choi Young-jin, told the UN Security Council. "Deadlines and target dates have been missed."
The long-delayed presidential election is in part due to a change in priorities, said Choi.
Under the latest political agreement, Ouaga IV -- named after Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou, where the peace agreement was established -- reunification is to come before elections. This is a reversal of a prior agreement, Ouaga III, which stated elections would come first, reunification second.
Cote d'Ivoire -- the world's top cocoa grower -- was split in two after Prime Minister Guillaume Soro's New Forces (FN) took control of the northern part of the country in a power-sharing agreement with President Laurent Gbagbo.
Peace accords signed in 2007 and in 2008 set a timetable for the presidential election, which has repeatedly been postponed, and established a reunification process between the rebel-held north and a government-held south.
Last week, Gbagbo pledged that his country would hold elections this year; however, he could not offer a specific date.
On April 20, UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon warned against losing momentum in the peace process and the continuous delay in elections. With some 5.9 million people registered, Ban said, "The weakened momentum for elections must be recovered," in a report addressed to the UN Security Council.
"While the political situation in Cote d'Ivoire remains relatively peaceful, it would be incorrect to interpret this as a sign of progress toward a peaceful resolution" of the 2002 civil war, according to a UN team of experts, which has been conducting investigations since Jan. 12.
Despite a UN arms embargo, "the parties to the conflict remain sufficiently heavily armed to engage in sustained armed hostilities" and some are rearming primarily with Kalashnikov- pattern weapons but also heavy weapons, such as truck-mounted heavy machine guns. The ammunition used is marked "Darma, Mali" and is believed to be wholly or partly manufactured in Mali, said the UN group's report to the Security Council.
"The north of the country is fractured into a series of politico-military commands, which compete (sometimes violently) for control over natural resources and commerce," said the group's report. "Should the political situation in the country deteriorate ... armed violence may escalate rapidly, particularly in the north. "
While the Cote d'Ivorian government has generally been receptive to the UN's ongoing investigation, the UN group said " government representatives appeared unwilling to share detailed information on matters related to sanctions." Formal requests for information on arms and ammunition held by all military, police and Gendarmerie sites -- a military body charged with police among civilians -- to the relevant Cote d'Ivorian authorities have so far "gone unfulfilled."
The group also ran into resistance from some members of the 15- nation Security Council, particularly in relation to arms transfers, as well as from certain private companies, banking institutions, and State institutions during its investigations into financial crimes.
Apart from the arms embargo, the United Nations continues to sanction the export of all rough diamonds from Cote d'Ivoire as the country's diamond mines, which generally produce relatively large and valuable stones, have fueled armed conflict.
However, various sources told the UN group that diamonds from Cote d'Ivoire continue to be exported to international markets in violation of the embargo. Taking into consideration the risks of exporting embargoed Cote d'Ivorian diamonds -- and hence the greater costs borne by exporters -- diamond traders ask for lower prices.
According to Groupement Vocation Cooperative, which oversees diamond production, Cote d'Ivorian rough diamonds in Seguela currently yield anywhere from 70 U.S. dollars to 120 dollars per carat -- significantly less than international market rates.