View source for First Ivorian Civil War

{{Short description|2002–2007 civil war in Cote d'Ivoire}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = First Ivorian Civil War
| partof            = the [[Ivorian Civil War (disambiguation)|Ivorian Civil War]]s
| image_size        = 300px
| caption           = Armed insurgents in a [[technical (fighting vehicle)|technical]], photographed by the [[French Army]] in 2004.
| date              = 19 September 2002 – 4 March 2007<br />({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|month1=09|day1=19|year1=2002|month2=03|day2=04|year2=2007}})
| place             = [[Ivory Coast]]
| territory         = 
| result            = War agreement, followed by [[Second Ivorian Civil War|renewed conflict]]
| combatant1        = {{flag|Ivory Coast}}<br />{{flagdeco|Ivory Coast}} [[Congrès Panafricain des Jeunes et des Patriotes|COJEP]]
| combatant2        = {{flagdeco|Ivory Coast}} [[Forces Nouvelles de Côte d'Ivoire|FNCI]]
| combatant3        = {{flag|France|1974}}<br />{{flagdeco|United Nations}} [[United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire|UNOCI]]
| commander1        = {{flagicon|Ivory Coast}} [[Laurent Gbagbo]]<br />{{nowrap|{{flagicon|Ivory Coast}} [[Charles Blé Goudé]]}}<br />{{flagicon|Belarus}} Mikhail Romanchuk<br />{{flagicon|Belarus}} Ivan Kolesnik{{KIA}}
| commander2        = {{flagicon|Ivory Coast}} [[Guillaume Soro]]
| commander3        = {{nowrap|{{flagdeco|France|1974}} [[Jacques Chirac]]}}<br />{{flagdeco|United Nations}} [[Kofi Annan]]
| units1            = 
| units2            = 
| units3            = 
| strength1         = 
| strength2         = 
| strength3         = 
| casualties1       = 300+ government soldiers<br />100+ militias<br />1,200+ civilians<br />{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}
| casualties2       = 400+ rebels<br />{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}
| casualties3       = 16 French soldiers{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}<br />36 UN personnel
| casualties4       = 900–4,000 casualties overall ([[Uppsala Conflict Data Program|UCDP]])<br> 750,000 people displaced ([[UNHCR]])
}}

The '''First Ivorian Civil War''' was a [[Civil war|civil conflict]] in the [[Ivory Coast]] (Côte d'Ivoire) that began with a [[Armed Forces of the Republic of Ivory Coast|military]] rebellion on 19 September 2002 and ended with a peace agreement on 4 March 2007. The conflict pitted the government of Ivorian President [[Laurent Gbagbo]] against a domestic [[insurgency]] led by the [[Forces Nouvelles de Côte d'Ivoire|New Forces of Ivory Coast]] ({{lang|fr|Forces nouvelles de Côte d'Ivoire}}). A [[Second Ivorian Civil War|second civil war]] (2010–2011) would break out over the results of the [[2010 Ivorian presidential election]].

The war was preceded by a tumultuous decade in the Ivory Coast, marked by an [[Economy of Ivory Coast|economic]] downturn and, following the death of long-time Ivorian President [[Félix Houphouët-Boigny]] in 1993, a leadership succession crisis. The succession crisis manifested in a [[1999 Ivorian coup d'état|1999 military coup d'état]] and a violent dispute over the result of the [[2000 Ivorian presidential election|2000 presidential election]]. Three successive Ivorian leaders – [[Henri Konan Bédié]] from 1993, [[Robert Guéï]] from 1999, and Gbagbo from 2000 – exploited the ideology of [[Ivoirité]] to repress and marginalise [[Opposition (politics)|political opposition]], notably by disqualifying [[Alassane Ouattara]] from contesting [[Elections in Ivory Coast|elections]] on the basis of his [[Burkina Faso|Burkinabé]] nationality; in the process, these leaders stoked [[Ethnic hatred|ethnic tensions]] and [[Xenophobia|xenophobic sentiment]] in the country. The rebellion which ignited the war was driven by forces which sought a re-run of the 2000 election and reform of exclusionary [[citizenship]] policies.

War broke out on 19 September 2002 when troops opposed to President Gbagbo – and under the political leadership of the [[Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast]] (MPCI, {{lang|fr|Mouvement patriotique de Côte d'Ivoire}}) – attacked three Ivorian cities, including [[Abidjan]]. Though they failed to take Abidjan, the rebels quickly established control over much of the north of the country. Two new rebel groups along the Liberian border, the [[Movement for Justice and Peace]] ({{lang|fr|Mouvement pour la justice et la paix}}) and the [[Ivorian Popular Movement of the Great West]] ({{lang|fr|Mouvement populaire ivoirien du Grand Ouest}}), battled government forces for western territory, before uniting with MPCI as the New Forces in December 2002. Across the country, opposition supporters clashed with the [[Young Patriots (Cote d'Ivoire)|Young Patriots]] ({{lang|fr|Congrès panafricain des jeunes et des patriotes}}) and other pro-government [[militia]]s.

The conflict attracted international attention.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=McGovern |first=Mike |date=2008 |title=International interventions in Côte d'Ivoire: In search of a point of leverage |url=https://www.c-r.org/accord/incentives-sanctions-and-conditionality/international-interventions-c%C3%B4te-divoire-search |journal=Accord |volume=19 |access-date=2022-10-02 |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002163945/https://www.c-r.org/accord/incentives-sanctions-and-conditionality/international-interventions-c%C3%B4te-divoire-search |url-status=live }}</ref> Ivory Coast's former [[Colonialism|colonial]] power, [[France]], launched a military intervention soon after the initial rebellion. Though [[Opération Licorne]] had a protection mandate and pleaded its [[Neutral country|neutrality]] in the conflict, the French intervention was attacked by Ivorian [[Nationalism|nationalists]] as an example of [[neocolonialism]], leading to sustained public demonstrations and in 2004, [[2004 French–Ivorian clashes|fatal clashes]] between Ivorian and French forces. The [[United Nations]] (UN) was involved in the conflict first through a political mission, the [[United Nations Mission in Côte d'Ivoire|UN Mission in Côte d'Ivoire]], and then through an ambitious [[United Nations peacekeeping|peacekeeping]] mission, the [[United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire|UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire]], which deployed in April 2004 and absorbed the smaller contingent of peacekeepers that had been deployed earlier by the [[Economic Community of West African States]] (ECOWAS).

The violence largely subsided by the end of 2004, but the country remained under ''de facto'' [[Partition (politics)|partition]] – with a rebel-held north and a government-held south – while the political crisis continued. Though the multi-party [[Linas-Marcoussis Agreement|Linas-Marcoussis Accord]] established a [[Power sharing|power-sharing]] Government of National Reconciliation in early 2003, its provisions regarding [[disarmament]] and political reform were not implemented. A comprehensive political settlement was finally reached in 2007, when Gbagbo and the New Forces signed the [[Ouagadougou Agreement|Ouagadougou Peace Agreement]] in [[Ouagadougou|Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso]]. However, when the Ivory Coast held its [[2010 Ivorian presidential election|presidential elections in 2010]], the first since 2000, Gbagbo refused to accept the result, sparking a [[2010–2011 Ivorian crisis|renewed political crisis]] and the beginning of the [[Second Ivorian Civil War]].

==Origins and context==
[[File:Félix Houphouët-Boigny 1962-07-16.jpg|left|thumb|197x197px|[[Félix Houphouët-Boigny]] died in 1993, after 30 years in power.]]

=== Leadership succession ===
When [[President of the Ivory Coast|Ivorian President]] [[Félix Houphouët-Boigny]] died in 1993, the end of his thirty-three-year presidency inaugurated a prolonged "crisis of succession", which destabilised [[Politics of Ivory Coast|Ivorian politics]] for the remainder of the 1990s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Banégas |first=Richard |date=2006 |title=Côte d'Ivoire: Patriotism, Ethnonationalism and Other African Modes of Self-Writing |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3876763 |journal=African Affairs |volume=105 |issue=421 |pages=535–552 |doi=10.1093/afraf/adl035 |jstor=3876763 |issn=0001-9909 |access-date=1 October 2022 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001135540/https://www.jstor.org/stable/3876763 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Since the Ivory Coast's [[independence]] from [[French colonial empire|France]] in 1960, Houphouët-Boigny had maintained Ivorian political and [[Economy of Ivory Coast|economic]] stability using mechanisms largely dependent on his own personal [[charisma]], networks, and so-called [[Françafrique]] connections; the country lacked established mechanisms to regulate [[Democracy|democratic]] competition. As required by the [[Constitution of Ivory Coast|constitution]] following his death, Houphouët-Boigny was succeeded by [[Henri Konan Bédié]], the President of the [[National Assembly (Ivory Coast)|National Assembly]], who also replaced Houphouët-Boigny at the head of the ruling [[Democratic Party of Ivory Coast – African Democratic Rally|Democratic Party of Ivory Coast]] (PDCI, {{lang|fr|Parti démocratique de la Côte d'Ivoire}}). However, ahead of the [[1995 Ivorian presidential election|1995 presidential election]], opposition politicians began to organise for democratic regime change in open and competitive elections.<ref name=":0" />

One powerful opposition leader was [[Laurent Gbagbo]], whose [[Ivorian Popular Front]] (FPI, {{lang|fr|Front populaire ivoirien}}) had long agitated for [[Democratization|democratisation]] under Houphouët-Boigny. Another was [[Alassane Ouattara]], Houphouët-Boigny's [[Prime Minister of Ivory Coast|Prime Minister]], who had launched an abortive challenge to Bédié's leadership in the weeks after Houphouët-Boigny's death,<ref>{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=1993-12-09 |title=Power Struggle Is Simmering in Ivory Coast |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/09/world/power-struggle-is-simmering-in-ivory-coast.html |access-date=2022-10-01 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001135538/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/09/world/power-struggle-is-simmering-in-ivory-coast.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and who in 1994 split from PDCI to establish his own party, [[Rally of the Republicans]] (RDR, {{lang|fr|Rassemblement des républicains}}).<ref name="Mundt">{{Cite book |last=Mundt |first=Robert J. |title=Political Reform in Francophone Africa |publisher=Westview Press |year=1997 |isbn=0-8133-2785-7 |editor1-last=Clark |editor1-first=John Frank |location=Boulder |pages=[https://archive.org/details/politicalreformi0000unse/page/194 194–197] |chapter=Côte d'Ivoire: Continuity and Change in a Semi-Democracy |editor2-last=Gardinier |editor2-first=David E. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/politicalreformi0000unse/page/194}}</ref> Both opposition groups [[Election boycott|boycotted]] the 1995 election in protest of changes to the electoral code {{See below|[[#Ivoirité|below]]}}: Bédié's PDCI retained power, but at the cost of harming its popular [[Legitimacy (political)|legitimacy]].<ref name=":0" /> After 1995, the opposition continued to gain political ground. This political change coincided, from the late 1990s, with renewed economic downturn in Ivory Coast, exacerbated by the [[Economic liberalization|liberalisation]] of key [[Agriculture in Ivory Coast|agricultural]] sectors, notably [[Coffee production in Ivory Coast|coffee]] and cocoa, under an [[Ivory Coast and the International Monetary Fund|International Monetary Fund]] (IMF) [[structural adjustment]] programme.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Custers |first=Peter |date=2006 |title=Globalisation and War in Ivory Coast |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4418197 |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=41 |issue=19 |pages=1844–1846 |jstor=4418197 |issn=0012-9976 |access-date=1 October 2022 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001135546/https://www.jstor.org/stable/4418197 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Daddieh |first=Cyril K. |date=2001 |title=Elections and Ethnic Violence in Côte d'Ivoire: The Unfinished Business of Succession and Democratic Transition |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1167104 |journal=African Issues |volume=29 |issue=1/2 |pages=14–19 |doi=10.2307/1167104 |jstor=1167104 |issn=1548-4505 |access-date=1 October 2022 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001170442/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1167104 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |doi-access=free }}</ref>

=== Ivoirité ===
{{Main|Ivoirité}}
Ivory Coast has historically received large numbers of immigrants from neighbouring [[West Africa]]n countries, especially [[Burkina Faso]], and the flow of immigration was sustained after independence, both due to Ivory Coast's relative prosperity and due to the favourable policies of Houphouët-Boigny's government: for example, between 1960 and 1972, any person born in Ivory Coast could receive Ivorian [[citizenship]], regardless of their parents' [[nationality]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Marshall-Fratani |first=Ruth |date=2006 |title=The War of "Who Is Who": Autochthony, Nationalism, and Citizenship in the Ivoirian Crisis |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20065239 |journal=African Studies Review |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=9–43 |doi=10.1353/arw.2006.0098 |jstor=20065239 |s2cid=144834257 |issn=0002-0206 |access-date=1 October 2022 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001135542/https://www.jstor.org/stable/20065239 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> A majority of immigrants were [[Muslims|Muslim]]:<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Akindès |first=Francis |date=2003 |title=Côte d'Ivoire: Socio-political Crises, 'Ivoirité' and the Course of History |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43657700 |journal=African Sociological Review / Revue Africaine de Sociologie |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=11–28 |jstor=43657700 |issn=1027-4332 |access-date=1 October 2022 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001135545/https://www.jstor.org/stable/43657700 |url-status=live }}</ref> the share of Muslims in the Ivorian population increased from approximately six per cent in 1922 to 38.6 per cent in 1998.<ref name=":8" /> By then, they outnumbered the country's [[Christians]], and were particularly numerous in the north of the country.<ref name=":8" /> Although immigration slowed from the 1990s, [[Islam in Ivory Coast|the Muslim population]] continued to grow in [[Demographics of Ivory Coast|demographic importance]] due to a widening [[fertility]] gap.<ref name=":8">{{cite book |last1=Nordås |first1=Ragnhild |title=Political Demography. How Population Changes Are Reshaping International Security and National Politics |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |editor1-last=Goldstone |editor1-first=Jack A. |location=New York |pages=256–257 |chapter=The Devil in the Demography? |editor2-last=Kaufmann |editor2-first=Eric P. |editor3-last=Toft |editor3-first=Monica Duffy}}</ref>
[[File:Henri Konan Bédié, président du PDCI, 24 avril 2017.jpg|thumb|President [[Henri Konan Bédié]] used [[Ivoirité]] to undermine his political rivals.]]
Academic analyses agree that a key root cause of the Ivorian civil war was the spread of [[Nativism (politics)|nativist]] and [[Xenophobia|xenophobic]] discourse, its mobilisation by opportunistic politicians, and the resulting [[Ethnic hatred|ethnic tensions]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Bah |first=Abu Bakarr |date=2010 |title=Democracy and Civil War: Citizenship and Peacemaking in Côte d'Ivoire |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40928365 |journal=African Affairs |volume=109 |issue=437 |pages=597–615 |doi=10.1093/afraf/adq046 |jstor=40928365 |issn=0001-9909 |access-date=1 October 2022 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001135547/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40928365 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Central in this regard was the rise of [[Ivoirité]] as an ideology and state policy under President Bédié, and its use to marginalise and exclude immigrants, their descendants, and certain groups of Ivorian citizens. Ethnic tensions, xenophobic sentiment, and related communal disputes in Ivory Coast predated Bédié's rule, but Houphouët-Boigny had been able to accommodate, manage, and suppress them.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last1=El-Khawas |first1=Mohamed A. |last2=Anyu |first2=Julius Ndumbe |date=2014 |title=Côte d'Ivoire: Ethnic Turmoil and Foreign Intervention |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/africatoday.61.2.41 |journal=Africa Today |volume=61 |issue=2 |pages=41–55 |doi=10.2979/africatoday.61.2.41 |jstor=10.2979/africatoday.61.2.41 |s2cid=146734881 |issn=0001-9887 |access-date=1 October 2022 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001135538/https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/africatoday.61.2.41 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Under Bédié, however, the rise of Ivoirité politicised such disputes, making origin and religious affiliation "the prime markers of identity" in Ivory Coast.<ref name=":0" /> Land disputes were increasingly framed in ethnic terms, and became increasingly common in the late 1990s: Houphouët-Boigny's liberal land policies had extended access to land to both internal and foreign migrants, and rising urban [[unemployment]] in the 1990s – resulting in back-migration to rural areas – led to intensified competition over fertile land.<ref name=":0" />

Sociologist Francis Akindès notes that Ivoirité under Bédié had undertones which valorised [[Akan people|Akan]] identity (the ethnic group of both Bédié and Houphouët-Boigny) and Christian identity; but the central variant of Ivoirité was framed as a form of [[patriotism]] and used [[national origin]] as the measure of "Ivorianness".'''<ref name=":2" />''' Yet adjudicating residents' claims to Ivorian nationality was a complicated task, resting on a controversial distinction between "[[Indigenous peoples|indigenous]]" Ivorians and Ivorians "of immigrant ancestry".<ref name=":4" /> Groups perceived as foreign had long histories of migration to Ivory Coast, both before and during [[colonialism]] – Burkinabés, for example, had been represented among Ivorian residents since before states existed in either Burkina Faso or Ivory Coast – and many of their members had been citizens for multiple generations.<ref name=":1" /> In this context, even the more inclusive nationality-based variant of Ivoirité had a marked tendency to denigrate and exclude groups of Ivorian citizens, notably the [[Dyula people|Dioula]] population of northern Ivory Coast.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" />

Ouattara was himself Dioula – though he insisted he was an Ivorian national<ref name=":2" /> – and drew much of his support base from the predominantly Muslim north, particularly poor immigrants and their descendants on northern agricultural plantations.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |date=2001-08-28 |title=The New Racism: The Political Manipulation of Ethnicity in Côte d'Ivoire |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2001/08/28/new-racism/political-manipulation-ethnicity-cote-divoire |journal=Human Rights Watch |language=en |access-date=1 October 2022 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001135537/https://www.hrw.org/report/2001/08/28/new-racism/political-manipulation-ethnicity-cote-divoire |url-status=live }}</ref> In November 1994, ahead of the 1995 presidential election, Bédié had the National Assembly amend the electoral code to require that presidential candidates should be Ivorian-born with two Ivorian-born parents (where previously only one such parent had been required). This was viewed as a strategic move to avert a leadership challenge from Ouattara, who at that point remained Bédié's rival inside PDCI.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5" />

=== Coup and election violence ===
{{Main articles|1999 Ivorian coup d'état|2000 Ivorian presidential election}}
[[File:Alassane Ouattara 2011-09-14.jpg|thumb|197x197px|[[Alassane Ouattara]] was barred from contesting the [[1995 Ivorian presidential election|1995]] and [[2000 Ivorian presidential election|2000]] elections.]]
Former [[Armed Forces of the Republic of Ivory Coast|army]] commander [[Robert Guéï]] assumed power in December 1999, in [[1999 Ivorian coup d'état|a coup d'état]] which overthrew Bédié. The coup originated in a [[mutiny]], itself occasioned by Bédié's refusal to release detained RDR members or to meet other demands of the relevant faction of the military.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |date=1999-12-26 |title=Ousted president arrives in Togo |url=https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/1999/12/26/ousted-president-arrives-togo |access-date=2022-10-01 |website=The New Humanitarian |language=en |archive-date=3 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203045407/https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/1999/12/26/ousted-president-arrives-togo |url-status=live }}</ref> Guéï had been fired by Bédié in 1995, reportedly because he [[Insubordination|declined]] to deploy the military during pre-election public [[Political demonstration|demonstrations]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=French |first=Howard W. |date=1995-10-23 |title=Police, but Few Voters, in Ivory Coast Turnout |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/23/world/police-but-few-voters-in-ivory-coast-turnout.html |access-date=2022-10-01 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001135538/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/23/world/police-but-few-voters-in-ivory-coast-turnout.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and, once in office, he said that the new military government would seek to reverse Bédié's changes to the electoral code.<ref name=":7" /> However, it did the opposite: in July 2000, the Ivory Coast adopted [[2000 Ivorian constitutional referendum|by referendum]] a constitutional amendment which, under article 35 of the constitution, would permanently restrict eligibility for the presidency to those "of Ivorian origin, born of a father and mother who are also Ivorian by birth".<ref name=":2" /> This provision was used to maintain Ouattara's disqualification, and the candidacy of other opposition leaders was also blocked. As a result, Gbagbo was the only major opposition figure allowed to challenge Guéï in the [[2000 Ivorian presidential election|2000 presidential election]].<ref name=":5" /> Gbagbo won the election, although Guéï refused to cede power to him until forced to do so by violent public protests in which 206 people were killed and 1,207 injured.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Champin |first=Christophe |date=2001-08-31 |title=Le bilan officiel des violences |url=http://www1.rfi.fr/actufr/articles/020/article_9935.asp |access-date=2022-10-01 |website=RFI |language=French |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001135538/http://www1.rfi.fr/actufr/articles/020/article_9935.asp |url-status=live }}</ref> In the violence, FPI supporters reportedly targeted not only Guéï's forces but also supporters of Ouattara's RDR, as well as northerners and immigrants who they assumed supported RDR.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":6" />

President Gbagbo took up the mantle of Ivoirité and further entrenched it in state institutions.<ref name=":0" /> According to [[Human Rights Watch]], Gbagbo's [[security forces]] committed abuses against civilians, targeting – on the basis of their nationality, ethnicity, or religion – immigrants, their descendants, and Ivorians from the north.<ref name=":6" /> Moreover, in 2001, the FPI government introduced a new national identification system, under which residents applying for official [[identity document]]s were required to prove their nationality, including the locality of their place of birth, to a new National Identification Office (ONI, {{lang|fr|Office national d'identification}}).<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> This policy affected the [[Suffrage|voting rights]] not only of immigrants but also of many northern Ivorians.<ref name=":5" /> Thus the political transition to Gbago's government did little to ease ethnic tensions.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> For related reasons, and as throughout Guéï's rule, the mood in the military remained generally mutinous, and Gbagbo faced opposition from both Guéï loyalists and Ouattara sympathisers within the army.<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal |last1=Schiel |first1=Rebecca |last2=Faulkner |first2=Christopher |last3=Powell |first3=Jonathan |date=2017 |title=Mutiny in Côte d'Ivoire |journal=Africa Spectrum |volume=52 |issue=2 |pages=103–115 |doi=10.1177/000203971705200205 |jstor=44982275 |s2cid=148847550 |issn=0002-0397|doi-access=free }}</ref> An [[2001 Ivorian coup attempt|attempted coup]] in January 2001,<ref>{{Cite news |last= |date=2001-01-09 |title=Coup Failed In Ivory Coast, Officials Say |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/09/world/coup-failed-in-ivory-coast-officials-say.html |access-date=2022-10-01 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001170514/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/09/world/coup-failed-in-ivory-coast-officials-say.html |url-status=live }}</ref> which Gbagbo blamed on the interference of Burkina Faso, led to renewed attacks on Burkinabé residents by FPI supporters.<ref name=":3" />

==Belligerents==
[[File:Guillaume Soro janvier 2011.jpg|thumb|Rebel leader [[Guillaume Soro]] led the [[Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast]] and the [[Forces Nouvelles de Côte d'Ivoire|New Forces]].]]

=== Rebel forces ===
The primary rebel force in the civil war was the [[Forces Nouvelles de Côte d'Ivoire|New Forces of Ivory Coast]] (FNCI, {{lang|fr|Forces nouvelles de Côte d'Ivoire}}), created in December 2002 as a coalition between the [[Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast]] (MPCI, ''Mouvement patriotique de Côte d'Ivoire''), the [[Ivorian Popular Movement of the Great West]] (MPIGO, ''Mouvement populaire ivoirien du Grand Ouest''), and the [[Movement for Justice and Peace]] (MJP, ''Mouvement pour la justice et la paix''). [[Guillaume Soro]] led the MPCI, whose insurgency began the war, and he became the general secretary of FNCI.'''<ref name=":5" />''' At least a significant portion of MPCI was aligned or sympathetic to the [[Rally of the Republicans]] (RDR, ''Rassemblement des républicains''), [[Alassane Ouattara]]'s opposition party,<ref name=":10" /> while MPIGO and MJP claimed allegiance to Ivory Coast's former military leader, [[Robert Guéï]], who died at the beginning of the war.<ref name=":12" />

The Ivorian government claimed that MPCI was supported by Burkina Faso, an allegation which Burkinabé President [[Blaise Compaoré|Blaise Compaore]] repeatedly denied.<ref name=":11">{{cite news |date=3 December 2002 |title=Côte d'Ivoire: Chaotic Conflict Deepens As Government Troops Fight To Recover Lost Territory In Ivory Coast |newspaper=AllAfrica |url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200212030058.html |access-date=16 October 2014 |archive-date=9 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109125115/http://allafrica.com/stories/200212030058.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[International Crisis Group]], however, regarded the allegation as plausible: sources in the Burkinabé government reported that arms had been delivered to the rebels by air, and Western intelligence proved that some of the arms used in the rebels' initial attacks had come from the Burkinabé [[Presidential Guard (Burkina Faso)|Presidential Guard]] stocks.<ref name=":17">{{Cite web |date=2003-11-28 |title=Côte d'Ivoire: "The War Is Not Yet Over" |url=https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/c%C3%B4te-divoire/cote-d-ivoire-war-not-yet-over |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=[[International Crisis Group]] |language=en |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002104357/https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/c%C3%B4te-divoire/cote-d-ivoire-war-not-yet-over |url-status=live }}</ref> However, both International Crisis Group and Western intelligence reports gave less credence to Gbagbo's further accusation that [[Burkina Faso Armed Forces|Burkinabé troops]] had participated directly in the initial attacks.<ref name=":17" /> MPIGO and MJP were reported to have received assistance from the Liberian government,<ref name=":12" /><ref>{{Cite journal |date=2005-04-13 |title=Youth, Poverty and Blood: The Lethal Legacy of West Africa's Regional Warriors |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2005/04/13/youth-poverty-and-blood/lethal-legacy-west-africas-regional-warriors |journal=Human Rights Watch |language=en |access-date=1 October 2022 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001170440/https://www.hrw.org/report/2005/04/13/youth-poverty-and-blood/lethal-legacy-west-africas-regional-warriors |url-status=live }}</ref> reflecting a partial spillover of the [[Second Liberian Civil War|Liberian Civil War]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-04-30 |title=Tackling Liberia: The Eye of the Regional Storm |url=https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/liberia/tackling-liberia-eye-regional-storm |access-date=2022-10-01 |website=International Crisis Group |language=en |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001171943/https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/liberia/tackling-liberia-eye-regional-storm |url-status=live }}</ref> and, according to a March 2003 report by [[Global Witness]], 90% of MJP and MPIGO forces were Liberian or Sierra Leonean mercenaries, many of them ex-members of [[Charles Taylor (Liberian politician)|Charles Taylor]]'s [[Revolutionary United Front]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-03-31 |title=The Usual Suspects |url=https://www.globalwitness.org/en/archive/usual-suspects/ |access-date=2022-10-01 |website=[[Global Witness]] |language=french |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001170442/https://www.globalwitness.org/en/archive/usual-suspects/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Government forces ===
President [[Laurent Gbagbo]] was supported by loyalists in the state security services and [[Armed Forces of the Republic of Ivory Coast|National Armed Forces]] (FANCI, ''Forces armées nationales de Côte d'Ivoire''). In addition, he reportedly recruited foreign [[Mercenary|mercenaries]], some of whom had previously been affiliated with the South Africa-based [[Executive Outcomes]],<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":25" /> and including a number of Belarusian pilots.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mladenov |first=Alexander |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Y2HCwAAQBAJ&q=first+ivorian+civil+war+belarus&pg=PT143 |title=Su-25 'Frogfoot' Units In Combat |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2015 |isbn=9781472805690 |location=London |access-date=2 October 2020 |archive-date=23 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923060326/https://books.google.com/books?id=0Y2HCwAAQBAJ&q=first+ivorian+civil+war+belarus&pg=PT143 |url-status=live }}</ref> Various civilian [[militia]]s supported Gbagbo and his political party, the [[Ivorian Popular Front]] (FPI, ''Front populaire ivoirien'') – the most important among them was the [[Young Patriots (Cote d'Ivoire)|Young Patriots' Pan-African Congress]] (COJEP, ''Congrès panafricain des jeunes et des patriotes''). In 2005, Human Rights Watch reported that the Ivorian government had also recruited foreign combatants, primarily from Liberia, and including [[Children in the military|child soldiers]].<ref>{{cite web |date=31 March 2005 |title=Côte d'Ivoire: Ex-Child Soldiers Recruited for War |url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/03/30/cotedi10404.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050714110654/http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/03/30/cotedi10404.htm |archive-date=14 July 2005 |website=[[Human Rights Watch]]}}</ref> According to the [[Stockholm International Peace Research Institute]], between 2002 and 2004, the Ivorian government purchased arms from Angola, Belarus, Bulgaria, Israel, Romania, and Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Trade Registers: Côte d'Ivoire Receipts |url=https://armstrade.sipri.org/armstrade/page/trade_register.php |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=Stockholm International Peace Research Institute |archive-date=14 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100414022558/http://armstrade.sipri.org/armstrade/page/trade_register.php |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== International forces ===
The [[French Armed Forces|French military]] launched its intervention in Ivory Coast, [[Opération Licorne]], on 22 September 2002, three days after the start of the war, with an initial focus on protecting French and other foreign nationals.<ref name=":14" /> Originally a contingent of 700, Opération Licorne comprised 4,000 troops by July 2003.<ref name=":15">{{Cite web |last=Novosseloff |first=Alexandra |date=2018 |title=The Many Lives of a Peacekeeping Mission: The UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire |url=https://www.ipinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/1806_Many-Lives-of-a-Peacekeeping-Mission.pdf |website=[[International Peace Institute]] |access-date=1 October 2022 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001181128/https://www.ipinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/1806_Many-Lives-of-a-Peacekeeping-Mission.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Economic Community of West African States]] (ECOWAS) deployed its own peace force on 18 January 2003.<ref name=":15" />
[[File:SQ ONUCI.jpg|thumb|Officers at the headquarters of the [[United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire|UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire]].]]
The [[United Nations]] (UN) had an official presence in Ivory Coast from 6 February 2003, when [[Secretary-General of the United Nations|UN Secretary General]] [[Kofi Annan]] appointed [[Albert Tévoédjrè]] as his [[Special Representative of the Secretary-General|Special Representative]] in Ivory Coast.<ref name=":21" /> From 27 June 2003, Tévoédirè was supported by the [[United Nations Mission in Côte d'Ivoire|UN Mission in Côte d'Ivoire]] (MINUCI, ''Mission des Nations unies en Côte d'Ivoire''), established by [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1479|Resolution 1479]] of the [[United Nations Security Council|UN Security Council]], with a mandate to monitor implementation of the Linas-Marcoussis Accord.<ref name=":15" /> The following year, Security Council [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1528|Resolution 1528]] replaced MINUCI with an ambitious [[peacekeeping]] operation, the [[United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire]] (UNOCI). UNOCI deployed on 4 April 2004 and helped France police the buffer zone between the belligerents. It had an initial authorised strength of 6,240 uniformed personnel, and was further expanded by [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1609|Resolution 1609]] in 2005 and [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1682|Resolution 1682]] in 2006.<ref name=":15" /> By mid-2007, it comprised just over 9,000 uniformed personnel from more than 40 countries.<ref name=":22">{{Cite news |last=Murphy |first=Peter |date=2007-07-21 |title=U.N. suspends Moroccan contingent in Ivory Coast |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ivorycoast-un-idUSL2147384920070721 |access-date=2022-10-02 |archive-date=23 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923060404/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ivorycoast-un-idUSL2147384920070721 |url-status=live }}</ref> ECOWAS re-hatted its troops and handed over to UNOCI in April 2004,<ref name=":15" /> but, for practical and financial reasons, the Security Council allowed the French Operation Licorne to remain in place under its own [[Command hierarchy|chain of command]].<ref name=":18" />

==Outbreak of civil war==

=== Military rebellion: 19 September 2002 ===
{{Main articles|2002 Ivorian coup attempt}}
The "opening salvo" in the war was a rebellion against Gbagbo's government by Ivorian troops, who on 19 September 2002 executed a well-coordinated simultaneous attack on three Ivorian cities, including the largest city, [[Abidjan]].<ref name=":9" /> It was reportedly planned by former pro-RDR or pro-Guéï dissidents in the military and in the [[Student Federation of Ivory Coast]] (FESCI, ''Fédération estudiantine et scolaire de Côte d'Ivoire'').<ref name=":10">{{Cite journal |last1=Speight |first1=Jeremy |last2=Wittig |first2=Katrin |date=2017-11-29 |title=Pathways from rebellion: Rebel-party configurations in Côte d'Ivoire and Burundi |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adx042 |journal=African Affairs |volume=117 |issue=466 |pages=21–43 |doi=10.1093/afraf/adx042 |issn=0001-9909 |access-date=1 October 2022 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> According to the International Crisis Group, the rebellion involved about 750 troops,<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |last=Ero |first=Comfort |date=2002-12-15 |title=Ivory Coast on the brink |url=https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/c%C3%B4te-divoire/ivory-coast-brink |access-date=2022-10-01 |website=International Crisis Group |language=en |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001170442/https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/c%C3%B4te-divoire/ivory-coast-brink |url-status=live }}</ref> but it reportedly originated in a smaller protest of about 200 soldiers, primarily from the north of the country, who objected to their [[Demobilization|demobilisation]] by the government, viewing it as ethnically motivated.<ref name=":5" />

A severe response from the government – which included demolishing the homes of immigrant workers accused of supporting the rebellion – was supported by ''ad hoc'' pro-government [[militia]]s.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Carroll |first=Rory|author-link=Rory Carroll |date=2002-10-03 |title=Mobs fuel violence in Ivory Coast |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/oct/03/rorycarroll |access-date=2022-10-01 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |language=en |archive-date=6 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006182601/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/oct/03/rorycarroll |url-status=live }}</ref> Guéï was shot dead on the day of the rebellion – according to his family, while having lunch<ref>{{Cite news |last=Busby |first=Margaret|author-link=Margaret Busby|date=2002-09-21 |title=Obituary: General Robert Guei |url=http://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/sep/21/guardianobituaries1 |access-date=2022-10-01 |newspaper=The Guardian |language=en |archive-date=5 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221005154519/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/sep/21/guardianobituaries1 |url-status=live }}</ref> – "in circumstances that lead many to believe the government wanted him eliminated".<ref name=":12" /> After Ouattara's house was burned down, he took refuge at the French [[ambassador]]'s residence; while former President Bédié was accommodated at the Canadian ambassador's residence.<ref name=":5" /> Having failed to take Abidjan, the rebels – who later identified themselves as the [[Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast]] (MPCI, ''Mouvement patriotique de Côte d'Ivoire'')<ref name=":12" /> – retreated northwards,<ref name=":5" /> and they quickly established control over much of the north, including the cities of [[Bouaké]] and [[Korhogo]].<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":13">{{Cite web |last=Zavis |first=Alexandra |date=2002-10-02 |title=France Adds Military in Ivory Coast |url=https://apnews.com/article/d087a62022b5c6d3abe7ae24362a39b6 |access-date=2022-10-01 |website=AP News |language=en |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001170441/https://apnews.com/article/d087a62022b5c6d3abe7ae24362a39b6 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== French intervention: 22 September 2002 ===
{{Main articles|Opération Licorne}}
[[File:RHP Cote d'ivoire 2003.jpg|thumb|An [[ERC 90 Sagaie]] of the French [[1st Parachute Hussar Regiment]] in Ivory Coast.|246x246px]]
Ivory Coast's former colonial power, France, was invested in the outcome of the conflict – given its significant business interests in Ivory Coast, and the presence of more than 20,000 French citizens there – but was extremely reluctant to intervene in support of Gbagbo.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":16">{{Cite journal |last=Recchia |first=Stefano |date=2020-04-01 |title=Overcoming Opposition at the UNSC: Regional Multilateralism as a Form of Collective Pressure |url=https://academic.oup.com/jogss/article/5/2/265/5803375 |journal=Journal of Global Security Studies |language=en |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=265–281 |doi=10.1093/jogss/ogaa013 |issn=2057-3170 |doi-access=free |access-date=1 October 2022 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001193926/https://academic.oup.com/jogss/article/5/2/265/5803375 |url-status=live }}</ref> Nonetheless, on 22 September, France launched [[Opération Licorne|Operation Licorne]], with an initial mandate focused on protecting and evacuating French nationals and other foreign nationals.<ref name=":14">{{Cite book |last=Dobbins |first=James |date=30 October 2023 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/mg722rc.13 |title=Europe's Role in Nation-Building: From the Balkans to the Congo |publisher=RAND Corporation |chapter=Côte d’Ivoire |jstor=10.7249/mg722rc |isbn=9780833041388 |chapter-url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/mg722rc.13 |url-access= |jstor-access=free |access-date=1 October 2022 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001170440/https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/mg722rc.13 |url-status=live }}</ref> Indeed, in the weeks after the rebellion, French and American forces evacuated 2,500 people – mostly foreign nationals – from the Ivory Coast.<ref name=":13" /> Operation Licorne was initially staffed by the 650 troops regularly based in Ivory Coast under the terms of a [[Bilateralism|bilateral]] defence agreement. These were soon supplemented by additional troops shifted from French bases in Gabon and other African countries, as well as by a deployment of 70 additional [[paratrooper]]s in October.<ref name=":13" /> France emphasised the forces' protection mandate, saying repeatedly that it was not intervening in the conflict, but the presence of French troops soon became crucial to the government's security, for example in barring rebel advances on the capital city, [[Yamoussoukro]].<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":13" /> It was also reported that France had agreed to provide Gbagbo's government with [[Military logistics|logistical support]] and [[Military tactics|tactical]] advice.<ref name=":13" /> However, both sides – the government and the rebels – accused France of supporting the other, and the French intervention faced opposition from a segment of the Ivorian public: on 22 October, French troops dispersed a demonstration outside their base, using [[grenade]]s and [[tear gas]] to do so.<ref name=":14" />

=== Partial ceasefire: October–December 2002 ===
The conflict continued to intensify, as both sides recruited and armed thousands of civilians – and, on the government side, contracted foreign [[Mercenary|mercenaries]].<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":25">{{Cite web |date=2002-10-31 |title=Mercenary involvement won't be tolerated, govt |url=https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2002/10/31/mercenary-involvement-wont-be-tolerated-govt |access-date=2022-10-01 |website=The New Humanitarian |language=en |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001170441/https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2002/10/31/mercenary-involvement-wont-be-tolerated-govt |url-status=live }}</ref> However, on September 29, the [[Economic Community of West African States]] (ECOWAS) launched [[Peace process|peace negotiations]] in [[Accra|Accra, Ghana]], under the [[mediation]] of a high-level contact group comprising representatives from Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Togo.<ref name=":15" /> This initiative resulted on 17 October in a [[ceasefire]] between MPCI and the Ivorian government, as well as an agreement to continue substantive peace talks under ECOWAS auspices.<ref name=":12" /><ref>{{Cite news |last= |date=2002-10-17 |title=Ivory Coast Rebels Sign Ceasefire Deal |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/17/international/ivory-coast-rebels-sign-ceasefire-deal.html |access-date=2022-10-01 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001170510/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/17/international/ivory-coast-rebels-sign-ceasefire-deal.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Further bilateral talks were held in [[Lomé|Lomé, Togo]], in October and November, but failed to break a political [[Political deadlock|deadlock]]: MPCI demanded Gbagbo's removal, fresh elections, and a review of the constitution.<ref name=":15" />

By then, moreover, MPCI was no longer the sole rebel group involved in the conflict. While MPCI continued to hold much of the north and the government much of the south, by the end of November, two rebel groups were operating in the west, near the Liberian border: the [[Movement for Justice and Peace]] (MJP, ''Mouvement pour la justice et la paix'') and the [[Ivorian Popular Movement of the Great West]] (MPIGO, ''Mouvement populaire ivoirien du Grand Ouest''). Both groups demanded Gbagbo's resignation and revenge for Guéï's death.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":12" /> On 28 November, MJP and MPIGO took control of [[Man, Ivory Coast|Man]], and French troops were drawn into hot conflict for the first time, recapturing [[Man Airport|the airport]] in a battle which killed ten rebels and injured one French soldier.<ref name=":11" /> On the government side, FPI supporters, led by the [[Young Patriots (Cote d'Ivoire)|Young Patriots]] (COJEP, ''Congrès panafricain des jeunes et des patriotes''), clashed frequently with opposition supporters in violent communal political demonstrations.<ref name=":4" />

By the middle of December 2002, 400 people had died in the conflict and 100,000 more had been [[Displaced people|displaced]].<ref name=":12" /> At that time, there were more than 2,500 French troops, including members of the [[French Foreign Legion|Foreign Legion]], in the Ivory Coast; their mission had been enhanced, to include enforcing the 17 October ceasefire by maintaining a [[buffer zone]] between rebel forces in the north and government in the south.<ref name=":14" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Sciolino |first=Elaine |date=2002-12-26 |title=Ivory Coast's Raging Conflict Draws France In |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/26/world/ivory-coast-s-raging-conflict-draws-france-in.html |access-date=2022-10-01 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001170446/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/26/world/ivory-coast-s-raging-conflict-draws-france-in.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":16" /> In December, the rebels regrouped politically, with MJP and MPGIO joined MPCI as junior partners in a new political coalition, the [[Forces Nouvelles de Côte d'Ivoire|New Forces of Ivory Coast]] (FNCI, ''Forces Nouvelles de Côte d'Ivoire''), led by [[Guillaume Soro]] of the MPCI.'''<ref name=":5" />''' This merger was viewed as a strategic choice to improve the rebels' bargaining position ahead of upcoming peace talks.<ref name=":5" /> Thereafter, the New Forces administered its northern territories in ten "comzones", each headed by a zone [[commander]], who was typically a former military officer.<ref name=":10" />

==First round of peace talks==

[[Image:FNCI.JPG|thumb|alt=New Forces general Bakayoko reviews his troops who are standing at attention in regularized uniforms|[[Forces Nouvelles de Côte d'Ivoire|New Forces]] troops in [[Odienné]].]]

=== ECOWAS intervention: 18 January 2003 ===
ECOWAS leaders had agreed on 18 December 2002 to deploy an ECOWAS Peace Force for Côte d'Ivoire, comprising 3,200 military personnel. The force was to arrive before the end of December and take over from France in monitoring the ceasefire.<ref name=":16" /> However, its deployment was delayed, and the first contingent of troops did not arrive until 18 January 2003 and consisted of only 172 soldiers.<ref name=":15" /> According to the [[International Peace Institute]], the inadequacy of ECOWAS's intervention motivated France to lobby in the [[United Nations]] (UN) [[United Nations Security Council|Security Council]] for a [[United Nations peacekeeping|UN peacekeeping]] operation and, in January 2003, to spearhead peace talks.<ref name=":15" />

=== Linas-Marcoussis talks: 15–26 January 2003 ===
From 15 to 26 January 2003, the various parties – government, rebel forces, and opposition political parties – met at [[Linas (France)|Linas]]-[[Marcoussis]], near [[Paris|Paris, France]], to undertake substantive peace negotiations. The talks were "a French-driven initiative with inputs from [[regional organization]]s and the UN": they were chaired by [[Pierre Mazeaud]], the chairman of the French [[Constitutional Council (France)|Constitutional Council]], who was assisted by [[Kéba Mbaye]] (a Senegalese judge), [[Seydou Diarra]] (former Ivorian prime minister and [[African Union]] (AU) [[Special Envoy|special envoy]]), [[Mohamed Ibn Chambas]] (the executive secretary of ECOWAS), and [[Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah|Ahmedou Ould Abdallah]] (the [[United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel|Special Representative for West Africa]] of the [[Secretary-General of the United Nations|UN Secretary-General]]).<ref name=":15" /> The New Forces had inherited MPCI's position in the negotiations: the rebels demanded a fresh election, viewing as illegitimate the results of the 2000 election; while the Ivorian government insisted that Gbagbo should complete his presidential term.<ref name=":5" />

==== Linas-Marcoussis Accord ====
The parties signed a compromise [[Peace treaty|peace agreement]], the Linas-Marcoussis Accord, on 26 January.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EVIU-63HHAD?OpenDocument&rc=1&cc=civ|title=Linas-Marcoussis Agreement: Cote d'Ivoire|work=ReliefWeb|date=23 January 2003|access-date=16 October 2014|archive-date=19 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090619140838/http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EVIU-63HHAD?OpenDocument&rc=1&cc=civ|url-status=live}}</ref> The agreement provided for [[Power sharing|power-sharing]] through a Government of National Reconciliation: Gbagbo would remain in office, but Seydou Diarra would be appointed as a [[Nonpartisanism|non-partisan]] consensus prime minister, with the understanding that Diarra would not run in the next presidential election. The power-sharing government would include representation for all the agreement's signatories: the three major political parties (Bédié's PDCI, Ouattara's RDR, and Gbagbo's FDI), the three major rebel groups in the New Forces (MPCI, MJP, and MPIGO), and four smaller political parties – [[Movement of the Forces of the Future]] (''Mouvement des forces de l'avenir''), [[Ivorian Workers' Party]] (''Parti ivoirien des travailleurs''), Citizens' Democratic Union (''Union démocratique et citoyenne''), and [[Union for Democracy and Peace in Ivory Coast]] (''Union pour la démocratie et la paix en Côte d'Ivoire'').<ref name=":4" /> Most controversially, the rebels would control the important ministries of defence and [[Interior minister|the interior]].<ref name=":5" /> The ultimate purpose of the Government of National Reconciliation was to allow credible elections to take place in 2005, and the appendix to the agreement outlined a nine-point plan for [[reform]]s to be undertaken to this end, including [[Security sector governance and reform|security sector reform]], land tenure reform, and – perhaps most importantly – an end to divisive policies on citizenship, national identification, and electoral eligibility.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":17" /> The rebels agreed to [[Disarmament|disarm]] in exchange for [[amnesty]] and political representation.<ref name=":5" />

The agreement received international backing. On 4 February, the UN Security Council adopted unanimously its first resolution on the Ivorian crisis, calling, in [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1464|Resolution 1464]], for the implementation of the peace agreement, and expressing approval of the French and ECOWAS presence in Ivory Coast.<ref name=":15" /> UN Secretary General [[Kofi Annan]] appointed [[Albert Tévoédjrè]] as his [[Special Representative of the Secretary-General|Special Representative]] in Ivory Coast.<ref name=":21">{{Cite journal |last=Annan |first=Kofi A. |author-link=Kofi Annan |date=2003-02-07 |title=Letter to the President of the Security Council |url=https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/487313 |journal=[[United Nations]] |language=en |access-date=2 October 2022 |archive-date=26 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726174656/https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/487313 |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:IC Gbagbo Motta eng 195.jpg|thumb|191x191px|Ivorian President [[Laurent Gbagbo]] encouraged a [[Populism|populist]] uproar over the French presence in Ivory Coast.]]

==== "Patriotic" response ====
Inside Ivory Coast, however, FPI and government supporters regarded the Linas-Marcoussis Accord with hostility. Opposition came especially from the military, which rejected New Forces control of the interior and defence ministries and the integration of the rebels into the army.<ref name=":5" /> Opposition to the agreement also acquired strong overtones of [[anti-French sentiment]]: French [[Neutral country|neutrality]] during the early phases of Operation Licorne had already been viewed as suspect, and the Linas-Marcoussis Accord was interpreted, by its Ivorian critics, as providing confirmation that France was attempting to undermine Gbagbo's leadership.<ref name=":18">{{Cite journal |last=Piccolino |first=Glulia |date=2012 |title=David against Goliath in Côte d'Ivoire? Laurent Gbagbo's War against Global Governance |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41494463 |journal=African Affairs |volume=111 |issue=442 |pages=1–23 |doi=10.1093/afraf/adr064 |jstor=41494463 |issn=0001-9909 |access-date=2 October 2022 |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002102855/https://www.jstor.org/stable/41494463 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":4" /> Gbagbo's supporters blamed France for coercing him to accept the agreement.<ref name=":5" /> Indeed, in "a clear move to distance himself" from the agreement – which he referred to as a "proposal" – Gbagbo had not signed it, but had sent another representative to sign on FPI's behalf.<ref name=":15" />

Immediately after the accord was signed, the Young Patriots organised violent anti-French protests, apparently with Gbagbo's backing.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":17" /> A demonstration in Abidjan on 2 February drew 100,000 protesters, who objected to "French [[Military occupation|occupation]]" and to the power-sharing deal.<ref name=":15" /> The demonstrations continued on a daily basis, and at one point involved an attempt to seize the [[Félix-Houphouët-Boigny International Airport|airport]] to prevent Diarra from returning to Abidjan to head the new coalition government.<ref name=":5" /> Amid attacks on French nationals, businesses, and bases,<ref name=":5" /> France carried out another wave of evacuations of French nationals.<ref name=":17" /> These protests in early 2003 marked the beginning of a surge in activity by Ivory Coast's so-called "patriotic movement", which continued to depend on mobilisation by the Young Patriots and to receive encouragement from Gbagbo, himself a longstanding [[Nationalism|nationalist]].<ref name=":1" /> In the increasingly popular patriotic analysis, the crisis in Ivory Coast was a "war of second independence" from France's [[Neocolonialism|neocolonial]] influence, and international intervention in the crisis consisted in an attack on Ivorian [[sovereignty]], particularly insofar as the Linas-Marcoussis Accord was viewed as recognising the legitimacy of the New Forces rebellion and as imposing constitutional change on Ivory Coast.<ref name=":18" /> Gbagbo was portrayed as a nationalist pioneer, persecuting for upsetting the [[status quo]] of French [[hegemony]].<ref name=":18" /> In the months after Linas-Marcoussis, this narrative was used by Gbagbo to deny the legitimacy of international decisions, in favour of reasserting presidential [[prerogative]]s, and to justify his reluctance to implement the peace agreement.<ref name=":18" />

== Peace implementation stalled ==

=== Accra II talks: 7–8 March 2003 ===
In a pattern that would be maintained in subsequent years, the signature of the Linas-Marcoussis Accord was followed by significant delays in its implementation, requiring the reopening of peace talks – though the Linas-Marcoussis Accord remained the basic framework within which all such talks took place between 2003 and 2006.<ref name=":4" /> On 7–8 March 2003, the first implementation stalemate was temporarily resolved during another summit in Accra, organised by ECOWAS and mediated by Ghanaian President [[John Kufuor]],<ref name=":17" /> and therefore intended to mitigate the appearance of French domination of the peace process.'''<ref name=":15" />''' The objective of the talks was to revise the power-sharing formula outlined in the Linas-Marcoussis Accord.<ref name=":18" /> At Accra II, the parties re-committed to implementing the initial agreement, and, to this end, the New Forces renounced its claims on the defence and interior ministries. Instead, a fifteen-member National Security Council would be established and would agree on candidates to fill those posts.<ref name=":17" /><ref name=":15" />

=== UN intervention: 3 May 2003 ===
{{Main|United Nations Mission in Côte d'Ivoire}}
The parties signed a comprehensive ceasefire on 3 May,<ref name=":17" /> and, the same day, the UN Security Council passed [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1479|Resolution 1479]], which established the [[United Nations Mission in Côte d'Ivoire|UN Mission in Côte d'Ivoire]] (MINUCI, ''Mission des Nations unies en Côte d'Ivoire'') to monitor implementation of the Linas-Marcoussis Accord. MINUCI was headed by, and would assist, Tévoédirè, the UN Secretary General's Special Representative.<ref name=":15" /> MINUCI arrived in Ivory Coast on 27 June 2003; initially comprising 34 officers, it was planned to expand to 76 personnel by the end of the year.<ref name=":17" /> Notwithstanding the ceasefire, "extreme violence" continued in the western part of the country, necessitating in late May a joint operation involving elements of both government and rebel forces, as well as French and ECOWAS peacekeepers.<ref name=":17" />

=== End of war declared: 4 July 2003 ===
On 4 July 2003, the government and New Forces announced publicly that the civil war was over, and that they had agreed to work together to implement the peace agreement.<ref name=":17" /><ref name=":5" /> However, the violence did not entirely dissipate.<ref name=":17" /> In late August, Operation Licorne suffered its first casualties when two French soldiers were killed by rebels near [[Sakassou]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-08-26 |title=French soldiers killed in Ivory Coast |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2003/8/26/french-soldiers-killed-in-ivory-coast |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=[[Al Jazeera English|Al Jazeera]] |language=en |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002102855/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2003/8/26/french-soldiers-killed-in-ivory-coast |url-status=live }}</ref> The same week, French intelligence services in Paris arrested 10 people, including [[Ibrahim Coulibaly]], who they said had been plotting to [[Assassination|assassinate]] Gbagbo and destabilise the peace.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |last2= |first2= |last3= |date=2003-08-27 |title=Ivory Coast president assassination foiled |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/world/arid-30111262.html |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=[[Irish Examiner]] |language=en |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002102855/https://www.irishexaminer.com/world/arid-30111262.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Moreover, the political conflict raged on.<ref name=":17" /> The New Forces refused to begin the demobilisation and disarmament process – or to allow government administrators to return to the north of the country – until Gbagbo had made permanent appointments to the sensitive ministries of defence and the interior.<ref name=":19">{{Cite web |date=2003-09-13 |title=Naming of two key ministers unblocks peace process |url=https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2003/09/13/naming-two-key-ministers-unblocks-peace-process |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=The New Humanitarian |language=en |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002102855/https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2003/09/13/naming-two-key-ministers-unblocks-peace-process |url-status=live }}</ref> Gbagbo also had not fulfilled his promise to revise electoral eligibility requirements.<ref name=":5" /> [[Image:059 French Foreign Legion.JPG|thumb|alt=Two New Forces rebels walk by a French Foreign Legion AFV which stands in the background on a road|New Forces rebels with a [[French Foreign Legion]] [[Armoured fighting vehicle|AFV]]. |left]]Progress appeared imminent by September 2003. Ivory Coast reopened its border with Burkina Faso,<ref name=":17" /> and the UN downgraded Ivory Coast's security rating, reflecting an improvement in conditions.<ref name=":19" /> On 13 September, Gbagbo finally made permanent appointments to the defence and interior portfolios.<ref name=":19" /> However, he declined to appoint the defence candidate proposed by the National Security Council, retired General Ouassenan Koré. Angered by this unilateral deviation from the Accra II agreement, New Forces representatives announced they would protest the move by suspending their participation in the reconciliation government.<ref name=":17" /> They also said that Gbagbo had refused to delegate [[Executive (government)|executive powers]] to the prime minister and reconciliation government, as stipulated by the Linas-Marcoussis Accord,<ref name=":17" /> and warned that the resumption of violence was a real possibility.<ref>{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=2003-09-24 |title=Ivory Coast Rebels Shun Officialdom and Threaten a New War |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/24/world/ivory-coast-rebels-shun-officialdom-and-threaten-a-new-war.html |access-date=2022-10-02 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002102855/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/24/world/ivory-coast-rebels-shun-officialdom-and-threaten-a-new-war.html |url-status=live }}</ref> By the end of 2003, disarmament had not been implemented – in contravention of a 1 October deadline – and military authority in the country remained bifurcated under a ''de facto'' north-south [[Partition (politics)|partition]], while inter-ethnic violence continued in the west, particularly between local [[Guere language|Guéré]] and [[Dan language|Yacouba]].<ref name=":17" /> By then, over 700,000 people had been displaced in the conflict.<ref name=":4" />

On 27 February 2004, the UN Security Council passed [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1528|Resolution 1528]], authorising the replacement of MINUCI with an ambitious peacekeeping operation, the [[United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire]] (UNOCI), with a mandate to police the buffer zone between the belligerents.<ref name=":15" /> However, in the first half of 2004, events inside Ivory Coast did not bode well for the implementation of the Linas-Marcoussis Accord, as relations between Ivorian actors continued to deteriorate. In mid-February, Ivorian authorities issued a ministerial decree which would "Ivorianise" workplaces, requiring that companies could only hire foreigners if they submitted a plan to turn the post over to an Ivorian within two years.<ref name=":20">{{Cite web |last=United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights |author-link=Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights |date=2004-03-15 |title=Crisis in Côte d'Ivoire Situation Report No. 23 |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/c%C3%B4te-divoire/crisis-c%C3%B4te-divoire-situation-report-no-23 |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=Relief Web |language=en |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002102906/https://reliefweb.int/report/c%C3%B4te-divoire/crisis-c%C3%B4te-divoire-situation-report-no-23 |url-status=live }}</ref> On 4 March, opposition party PDCI suspended its participation in the reconciliation government, accusing FPI ministers of taking unilateral decisions.<ref name=":20" /> On 10 March, one group of Young Patriots stormed the main Ivorian courthouse and physically attacked several [[magistrate]]s; while another attacked the Hotel du Golf, the residence of the New Forces ministers.<ref name=":20" /> The same week, responding to violent demonstrations by students in [[Daloa]], state forces killed one student and wounded 48 others.<ref name=":20" />

=== Peace march: 25 March 2004 ===
On 25 March, opposition parties organised a public demonstration in Abidjan to call on the government to implement the Linas-Marcoussis Accord. In response, the security forces and pro-government militias opened fire on the demonstrators, while other opposition supporters were rounded up by militias in subsequent days.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2004-04-08 |title=Now it's happening in the Ivory Coast |url=https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/c%C3%B4te-divoire/now-its-happening-ivory-coast |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=[[International Crisis Group]] |language=en |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002102858/https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/c%C3%B4te-divoire/now-its-happening-ivory-coast |url-status=live }}</ref> In May, the [[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights|Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights]] concluded an inquiry into the march and aftermath, finding that: <blockquote>at least 120 people were killed, 274 wounded and 20 [[Enforced disappearance|disappeared]]. These figures are by no means final... It is equally clear that many of the killings on these two days did not take place in the street but in the dwellings of would-be demonstrators or even innocent civilians targeted by the security forces simply because of their name, origin or community group. It was a well-known fact that police officers or other security officials or parallel forces would harass, try to rob, or search and arrest without [[Warrant (law)|warrants]] people in Abidjan even in the days preceding 25 March. However, these activities had greatly intensified since 23 March and contributed to the explosive environment. Credible accounts received by the Commission indicate that these actions too had been planned and directed by the security forces and later executed in cooperation and collusion with the parallel forces.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights |author-link=Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights |date=2004-04-29 |title=Report of the Commission of Inquiry on the Events Connected with the March Planned for 25 March 2004 in Abidjan |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/c%C3%B4te-divoire/c%C3%B4te-divoire-letter-dated-12-may-2004-un-sg-addressed-sc-president-s2004384 |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=ReliefWeb |language=en |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002102905/https://reliefweb.int/report/c%C3%B4te-divoire/c%C3%B4te-divoire-letter-dated-12-may-2004-un-sg-addressed-sc-president-s2004384 |url-status=live }}</ref></blockquote>In protest against the violence, the New Forces and Ouattara's RDR announced their withdrawal from the reconciliation government.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2004-03-26 |title=Ivorian opposition vows to continue protests |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2004-03-26-ivorian-opposition-vows-to-continue-protests/ |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002102855/https://mg.co.za/article/2004-03-26-ivorian-opposition-vows-to-continue-protests/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In May, Gbagbo publicly lambasted the opposition for suspending their participation; shortly afterwards, it was announced that he had sacked (permanently) three opposition ministers: PDCI's [[Patrick Achi]], the New Forces' Youssouff Soumahoro, and Soro, the leader of the New Forces. Soro called the move "tantamount to a coup d'état against the peace accords", and said that it would be impossible to establish peace in Ivory Coast until Gbagbo was removed from office.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2004-05-20 |title=Gbagbo sacks rebel chief from power-sharing cabinet |url=https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2004/05/20/gbagbo-sacks-rebel-chief-power-sharing-cabinet |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=The New Humanitarian |language=en |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002102858/https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2004/05/20/gbagbo-sacks-rebel-chief-power-sharing-cabinet |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2004-05-20 |title=Ivorian rebel ministers sacked |language=en-GB |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3728259.stm |access-date=2022-10-02 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305103816/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3728259.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Accra III talks: July 2004 ===
Peace talks resumed in July 2004 in Accra in an attempt to revitalise the peace process. An agreement signed upon the conclusion of the talks once again committed the parties to implement the Linas-Marcoussis Accord, this time "with specific deadlines and benchmarks for progress".<ref name=":5" /> The talks focused on addressing key obstacles to the peace process – notably electoral eligibility, citizenship reform, and the disarmament programme. The rebels agreed to rejoin the reconciliation government, and Gbagbo agreed to revise article 35 of the constitution, which until then had disqualified Ouattara from standing in presidential elections.<ref name=":15" />

However, by October, it was apparent that the Accra III agreement had not broken the implementation deadlock: on 12 October, Gbagbo announced that he would not submit the revised article 35 for National Assembly approval until after the rebels had disarmed; the rebels announced, in response, that they would not disarm until real progress had been made towards credible elections.<ref name=":15" /> The New Forces therefore missed the October 15 deadline to begin disarmament, and in early November, as tensions mounted, they formally refused to disarm.<ref name=":15" /> By then, the New Forces had imposed a [[state of emergency]] in their territories, claiming to have found weaponry hidden in a commercial truck – which they said was a delivery from Gbagbo's forces to Soro's internal rivals in the north – and warning that "the war isn't over yet. It is going to resume shortly".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2004-10-28 |title=Côte d'Ivoire: Rebels declare state of emergency, warn of return to war |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/c%C3%B4te-divoire/c%C3%B4te-divoire-rebels-declare-state-emergency-warn-return-war |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=ReliefWeb |language=en |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002163944/https://reliefweb.int/report/c%C3%B4te-divoire/c%C3%B4te-divoire-rebels-declare-state-emergency-warn-return-war |url-status=live }}</ref> A sustained assault on the press followed, with newspapers partial to the north being banned and two presses destroyed; dissenting radio stations were silenced.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}

== Resurgence of violence ==
[[File:Mangou.jpg|thumb|[[Philippe Mangou]] was head of the Ivorian [[Armed Forces of the Republic of Ivory Coast|Armed Forces]] for the duration of the war.]]
On 4 November, Gbagbo's forces violated the prevailing ceasefire, as the military launched air attacks against rebel positions in Bouaké and [[Korhogo]].<ref name=":15" /> The Young Patriots launched another attack on New Forces residences at the Hotel du Golf, expelling Prime Minister Diarra.<ref name=":15" /> After the attacks, Soro of the New Forces declared the Linas-Marcoussis Accord and subsequent Accra agreements "null and void".<ref name=":15" />

===French–Ivorian violence clashes: November 2004===
{{Main|2004 French–Ivorian clashes}}
On 6 November, one<ref>{{Cite news |date=2004-11-07 |title=Ivory Coast seethes after attack |language=en-GB |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3989127.stm |access-date=2022-10-02 |archive-date=17 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060617220845/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3989127.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> or two<ref name=":26">{{Cite web |date=2021-04-16 |title=Three sentenced to life for 2004 air strike on French troops in Cote d'Ivoire |url=https://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20210416-three-sentenced-to-life-for-2004-air-strike-on-french-troops-in-cote-d-ivoire |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=RFI |language=en |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002163944/https://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20210416-three-sentenced-to-life-for-2004-air-strike-on-french-troops-in-cote-d-ivoire |url-status=live }}</ref> Ivorian [[Sukhoi Su-25]] bombed an Operation Licorne base in Bouaké, killing nine French soldiers and an American [[Humanitarian aid|aid]] worker and injuring 31 others, the heaviest casualties suffered by a French operation since the [[1983 Beirut barracks bombings|1983 Beirut barrack bombings]].<ref name=":27">{{Cite web |date=2019-11-08 |title=Victims of Bouaké airstrikes still wait for justice, 15 years after |url=https://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20191108-victims-bouake-airstrikes-still-wait-justice-15-years-after |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=RFI |language=en |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002163944/https://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20191108-victims-bouake-airstrikes-still-wait-justice-15-years-after |url-status=live }}</ref> France rejected the Ivorian claim that the bombing had been accidental, and French President [[Jacques Chirac]] ordered the retaliatory destruction of both Ivorian Sukhoi Su-25 and five [[Mil Mi-24|MI-24]] ground attack helicopters – the entirety of the Ivorian air force's fleet.<ref name=":27" /> The [[2004 French–Ivorian clashes|French–Ivorian clashes]] which followed represented "a new peak" in the conflict and threatened to derail the peace process entirely,<ref name=":15" /> as pro-Gbagbo youths rioted against the French response and looted French-owned businesses,<ref name=":27" /> triggering yet another wave of Western evacuations: in two weeks, some 9,000 expatriates left the country.<ref name=":15" /> On 7 November, French forces opened fire on rioters in Abidjan, killing between 20 and 60 people according to French and Ivorian estimates respectively.<ref name="F24">{{Cite web |date=14 June 2008 |title=French foreign minister's visit is first since 2003 |url=http://www.france24.com/en/20080614-ivory-coast-bernard-kouchner-gbabgo-france&navi=AFRIQUE |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520122915/http://www.france24.com/en/20080614-ivory-coast-bernard-kouchner-gbabgo-france%26navi%3DAFRIQUE |archive-date=20 May 2011 |access-date=7 April 2011 |publisher=France 24}}</ref>

The clashes strengthened the pro-Gbagbo "patriotic" narrative that the conflict involved a "second war of independence" from France.<ref name=":18" /> On 13 November, [[Mamadou Koulibaly|Mamadou Coulibaly]], the President of the Ivorian National Assembly, declared that the government of the Ivory Coast did not take any responsibility for the 6 November bombardment, and announced that the government intended to approach the [[International Court of Justice]] to hold France responsible for its destruction of Ivorian air force equipment and for the deaths that the French response had caused.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}} In 2016, a French judicial investigation recommended that three French ministers – [[Michel Barnier]], [[Dominique de Villepin]] and [[Michèle Alliot-Marie]] – be referred for prosecution for allegedly having obstructed an investigation into the initial Ivorian air raid.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rouget |first=Antton |date=2016-02-26 |title=French ministers 'obstructed' Ivory Coast bombing probe |url=https://www.mediapart.fr/en/journal/france/260216/french-ministers-obstructed-ivory-coast-bombing-probe |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=Mediapart |language=en |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002163944/https://www.mediapart.fr/en/journal/france/260216/french-ministers-obstructed-ivory-coast-bombing-probe |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rouget |first=Antton |date=2018-07-07 |title=Prosecutor calls for pilots to be tried over bombing that killed French soldiers |url=https://www.mediapart.fr/en/journal/france/070718/prosecutor-calls-pilots-be-tried-over-bombing-killed-french-soldiers |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=Mediapart |language=en |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002163944/https://www.mediapart.fr/en/journal/france/070718/prosecutor-calls-pilots-be-tried-over-bombing-killed-french-soldiers |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2021, a Paris court issued life sentences to two Ivorian officers and one Belarusian mercenary, who [[Trial in absentia|in absentia]] had been found guilty of carrying out the air raid.<ref name=":26" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-04-15 |title=Paris court issues life sentences over 2004 bombing that sparked French-Ivorian clash |url=https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20210415-paris-court-issues-life-sentences-over-2004-bombing-that-sparked-french-ivorian-clash |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=France 24 |language=en |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002163944/https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20210415-paris-court-issues-life-sentences-over-2004-bombing-that-sparked-french-ivorian-clash |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Revived peace talks==
[[Image:Côte d'Ivoire ZDC.png|thumb|250x250px|A map of the [[buffer zone]] (''zone de confiance'') created in Ivory Coast, as of spring 2007.]]
The UN Security Council passed [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1572|Resolution 1572]] on 15 November, imposing an immediate [[arms embargo]] on Ivory Coast,<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 November 2004 |title=UN arms embargo for Ivory Coast |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4013413.stm |access-date=23 January 2019 |website=[[BBC News]] |archive-date=24 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190124103058/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4013413.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> though the effectiveness of the embargo is debatable.<ref name=":18" /> It also authorised targeted [[International sanctions|sanctions]] on Ivorian spoilers, and threatened to impose such sanctions if the belligerents did not return to peace negotiations timeously.<ref name=":5" />

=== Pretoria talks: April–June 2005 ===
On 3 to 6 April 2005, South African President [[Thabo Mbeki]] chaired peace talks in [[Pretoria|Pretoria, South Africa]], arranged under [[African Union]] (AU) auspices with the intention of reviving the peace process. The resulting Pretoria Agreement, intended as a supplement to the Linas-Marcoussis Accord, established a cessation of hostilities and ended the state of war.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":15" /> Mbeki had been involved in the Accra III talks, and, by acknowledging Gbagbo's concerns about Ivorian sovereignty, was able to nudge Gbagbo to a deal on sensitive electoral issues – notably the eligibility in elections of all peace talk participants, including Ouattara; and international supervision of the next Ivorian elections.<ref name=":18" /> In June, the UN Security Council passed [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1603|Resolution 1603]], calling on the UN Secretary-General to prepare to fulfil that supervisory role.<ref name=":15" /> Gbagbo also agreed to increase opposition representation on the Independent Electoral Commission and to disband pro-government militias.<ref name=":5" /> The New Forces and opposition parties mistrusted Mbeki, viewing him as a [[bias]]ed mediator,<ref name=":18" /> but did agree once again to disarm and to rejoin the reconciliation government.<ref name=":5" /> Rebel forces started to withdraw heavy weapons from the [[front line]] on 21 April, re-establishing the buffer zone,'''<ref>{{cite web |date=21 April 2005 |title=Withdrawal of heavy weapons begins in Côte d'Ivoire, UN mission says |url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=14040&Cr=ivoire&Cr1= |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061022193958/https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=14040&Cr=ivoire&Cr1= |archive-date=22 October 2006 |access-date=16 October 2014 |work=UN News Centre }}</ref>''' and the parties met in Pretoria again in June 2005 to review and reaffirm the agreement.<ref name=":15" />

=== Further delays: 2005–2006 ===
Nonetheless, and possibly due to intentional delays by Gbagbo,<ref name=":5" /> election preparations were slow, even as the end of Gbagbo's five-year presidential term – 30 October 2005, according to the constitution – approached.<ref name=":15" /> In early September, both the New Forces and the opposition parties said that elections held on 30 October as planned would not be [[Free and fair election|free and fair]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2005-09-08 |title=UN rules out Ivory Coast election |language=en-GB |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4228264.stm |access-date=2022-10-02 |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002144917/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4228264.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> In early October, the AU's [[Peace and Security Council]] conceded that Gbagbo could remain in office for up to 12 months further.<ref name=":18" /> Despite objections from the PDCI and RDR, as well as its two smaller partners in the opposition [[Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace|Houphouëtist alliance]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-10-11 |title=Opposition alliance calls on UN to reject 12 more months of Gbagbo |url=https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2005/10/11/opposition-alliance-calls-un-reject-12-more-months-gbagbo |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=The New Humanitarian |language=en |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002144916/https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2005/10/11/opposition-alliance-calls-un-reject-12-more-months-gbagbo |url-status=live }}</ref> the UN Security Council followed suit.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-10-14 |title=UN endorses plan to leave president in office beyond mandate |url=https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2005/10/14/un-endorses-plan-leave-president-office-beyond-mandate |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=The New Humanitarian |language=en |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002144916/https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2005/10/14/un-endorses-plan-leave-president-office-beyond-mandate |url-status=live }}</ref> On 21 October, the Security Council adopted [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1633|Resolution 1633]], which called for the establishment of an international ministerial [[working group]] and mediation group – mandated to draw up a road map for holding elections – and demanded the appointment, by consensus, of a new prime minister in Ivory Coast. Following a delay, both directives were implemented, with [[Charles Konan Banny]] appointed the new prime minister in December 2005.<ref name=":18" /> On 15 December, the Security Council's [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1643|Resolution 1643]] extended the arms embargo and established a new ban against the trade of Ivorian [[diamond]]s, marginally affecting the revenues of the New Forces.<ref name=":18" /> Although two Young Patriots leaders and one New Forces commander were subject to UN targeted sanctions (a [[travel ban]] and [[Asset freezing|asset freezes]]), the main protagonists avoided such measures;<ref name=":18" /> among other factors, discord had emerged in the African regional response, as the AU Peace and Security Council – and South Africa individually<ref name=":18" /> – opposed the coercive measures which ECOWAS favoured.<ref name=":15" />

At this stage, the security situation – even around the buffer zone – remained unstable, obstructing UNOCI's movement and operations.<ref name=":15" /> In mid-January 2006, UN bases in Abidjan, [[Daloa]], [[Guiglo]], and [[San-Pédro, Ivory Coast|San-Pédro]] were besieged by thousands of pro-government demonstrators, after the Young Patriots took over the Ivorian state-run radio and television stations and sent out a call for civilians to attack UNOCI and the French.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-01-19 |title=Côte d'Ivoire: Ivorian government must rein in militias |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/c%C3%B4te-divoire/c%C3%B4te-divoire-ivorian-government-must-rein-militias |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=ReliefWeb |language=en |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002144916/https://reliefweb.int/report/c%C3%B4te-divoire/c%C3%B4te-divoire-ivorian-government-must-rein-militias |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-01-17 |title=Anti-UN riots rock Ivory Coast |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/1/17/anti-un-riots-rock-ivory-coast |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002144917/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/1/17/anti-un-riots-rock-ivory-coast |url-status=live }}</ref> The ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' reported that four people had died in the clashes.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Polgreen |first=Lydia |date=2006-01-18 |title=4 Dead as Ivory Coast Protestors Clash With U.N. Peacekeepers |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/18/international/africa/4-dead-as-ivory-coast-protestors-clash-with-un.html |access-date=2022-10-02 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002144917/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/18/international/africa/4-dead-as-ivory-coast-protestors-clash-with-un.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In early November 2006, the UN Security Council agreed to delay elections further, extending Gbagbo and Banny's terms for another "new and final" transition period of one year.<ref name=":23">{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=2006-11-09 |title=Premier Says Preparations for Elections in Ivory Coast Are Back On |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/09/world/africa/premier-says-preparations-for-elections-in-ivory-coast-are.html |access-date=2022-10-02 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002144916/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/09/world/africa/premier-says-preparations-for-elections-in-ivory-coast-are.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1721|Resolution 1721]], lobbied for by France,<ref name=":18" /> also strengthened the powers of Prime Minister Banny, leading Gbagbo to warn that he would not carry out UN directives which were inconsistent with the Ivorian constitution.<ref name=":15" /><ref name=":23" />[[File:Gbagbo abedi-pélé.jpg|thumb|Gbagbo with Ghanaian footballer [[Abedi Pele]], December 2007.]]During this period, the [[Ivory Coast national football team|Ivorian national football team]] was credited with boosting national reconciliation. In 2007, the team qualified for the [[2008 Africa Cup of Nations|2008 African Cup of Nations]] in a game held in rebel-held Bouaké and attended by troops from both sides;<ref name=":24">{{cite magazine |author=Merrill, Austin |date=10 July 2007 |title=Best Feet Forward |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/07/ivorycoast200707 |magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |access-date=2 March 2010 |archive-date=28 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100228162619/http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/07/ivorycoast200707 |url-status=live }}</ref> similarly, in October 2005, the team's qualification for the [[2006 FIFA World Cup]] sparked days of public celebration in Abidjan,<ref name=":24" /> and on some accounts was responsible for persuading the government and rebels to recommit to peace negotiations.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Grez |first=Matias |date=2017-11-11 |title=How Didier Drogba and his Ivory Coast teammates helped end a civil war |url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/11/football/ivory-coast-didier-drogba-stops-civil-war-copa/index.html |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=CNN |language=en |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002144916/https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/11/football/ivory-coast-didier-drogba-stops-civil-war-copa/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Ouagadougou talks: 2006–2007 ===
Shortly after the UN Security Council adopted [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1721|Resolution 1721]], Gbagbo announced that he was preparing his own "new framework" to resolve the crisis, reflecting that, "Confronted by the failure of external solutions, it is time for Ivorians to assume total ownership of the peace process".<ref name=":18" /> The new framework revolved around "direct dialogue" between the New Forces and Gbagbo's FPI, to be undertaken bilaterally without international mediation.<ref name=":4" /> Bilateral pre-negotiations had in fact been underway in secret since mid-2006.<ref name=":18" />

Although touted as a "home-grown" solution,<ref name=":4" /> the talks were facilitated by Burkinabé President [[Blaise Compaoré]], with ECOWAS's endorsement, and Mbeki had also been involved in the pre-negotiations.<ref name=":15" /><ref name=":18" /> None of the opposition parties were invited to participate, and Gbagbo and Soro held direct talks alone for the first time.<ref name=":15" />

==== Ouagadougou Peace Agreement ====
{{main|Ouagadougou Agreement}}
On 4 March 2007, the parties – the FPI government and the New Forces – signed the [[Ouagadougou Agreement|Ouagadougou Peace Agreement]] in [[Ouagadougou|Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso]], their eighth peace agreement since 2002.<ref name=":15" /> The agreement, which represented a comprehensive political settlement to the conflict, entailed a new power-sharing arrangement, abandoning the notion of a consensus prime minister: instead, Soro was to become prime minister (thus marginalising opposition leaders Ouattara and Bédié) – but Gbagbo's constitutional prerogatives as president were also to be re-established.<ref name=":15" /><ref name=":18" /> The agreement also implied a reduce role for international supervision: several international monitoring mechanisms agreed to after the Pretoria talks (including the establishment of a UN High Representative for the Election in Côte d'Ivoire) were eliminated, although the UN Secretary General's Special Representative retained the right to certify the electoral process.<ref name=":18" /> The agreement included mechanisms to expedite [[voter registration]] and identification so that a presidential election could be held in ten months.<ref name=":5" /> It also included provisions for the disarmament of combatants and, through a joint command centre, for the restructuring of the military and security forces.<ref name=":5" />

==== Implementation ====
Soro took office in early April,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Coulibaly |first=Loucoumane |date=2007-04-13 |title=Premier Soro tells Ivorians to unite, embrace peace |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL13416492 |access-date=2022-10-02 |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002122836/https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL13416492 |url-status=live }}</ref> and formed a [[Cabinet (government)|cabinet]] that retained many of the ministers who had served under his predecessor.<ref name=":5" /> On 16 April, Gbagbo declared that the war was over, as he, with Soro, presided over the first steps to dismantle the UNOCI buffer zone, an occasion celebrated by a joint [[Military parade|parade]] of government and New Forces troops.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Aboa |first=Ange |date=2007-04-16 |title=Ivory Coast's President Gbagbo says war is over |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/c%C3%B4te-divoire/ivory-coasts-president-gbagbo-says-war-over |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=Reuters |language=en |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002122836/https://reliefweb.int/report/c%C3%B4te-divoire/ivory-coasts-president-gbagbo-says-war-over |url-status=live }}</ref> On 18 June, the central government began its administrative redeployment in northern areas formerly held by rebels, with the first new [[prefect]] installed in Bouaké.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2007-06-18 |title=Côte d'Ivoire: Soro installe le premier préfet en zone rebelle |language=French |work=[[Jeune Afrique]] |url=https://www.jeuneafrique.com/fluxafp/fil_info.asp?reg_id=0&art_cle=37458 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184129/https://www.jeuneafrique.com/fluxafp/fil_info.asp?reg_id=0&art_cle=37458 |archive-date=30 September 2007 |access-date=2 October 2022 }}</ref> Despite a fatal rocket attack on Soro's airplane on 30 June,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Duparc |first=Emmanuel |date=2007-06-30 |title=Rocket attack on Ivorian leader condemned |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2007-06-30-rocket-attack-on-ivorian-leader-condemned/ |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=[[The Mail & Guardian]] |language=en-ZA |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002122840/https://mg.co.za/article/2007-06-30-rocket-attack-on-ivorian-leader-condemned/ |url-status=live }}</ref> the reconciliation process continued with the large [[Flame of Peace (Côte d'Ivoire)|"Peace Flame"]] disarmament ceremony on 30 July, in which the two leaders set fire to a pile of weapons, symbolising the end of the conflict. The ceremony also involved Gbagbo's first visit, since 2002, to the former rebel stronghold of Bouaké.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Aboa |first=Ange |date=2007-07-30 |title=Ivory Coast's Gbagbo visits rebel HQ after war |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-ivorycoast-peace-idUKL3025764720070730 |access-date=2022-10-02 |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002122840/https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-ivorycoast-peace-idUKL3025764720070730 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2007-07-30 |title=Ivory Coast leaders burn weapons |language=en-GB |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6921585.stm |access-date=2022-10-02 |archive-date=10 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210213352/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6921585.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Ciflampai.jpg|thumb|237x237px|African heads of state with Gbagbo and Soro at the Peace Flame ceremony, 30 July 2007. |left]]
On 27 November, Gbagbo and Soro met with Compaoré in Ouagadougou to discuss the implementation of the Ouagadougou Peace Agreement and set a deadline for elections.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-11-27 |title=Côte d'Ivoire leaders fine-tune peace deal |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2007-11-27-cocircte-divoire-leaders-finetune-peace-deal/ |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=[[The Mail & Guardian]] |language=en-ZA |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002122834/https://mg.co.za/article/2007-11-27-cocircte-divoire-leaders-finetune-peace-deal/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In late December, they met again, this time in [[Tiébissou]] to preside over the beginning of a nation-wide disarmament process, scheduled to unfold over three months as troops from both sides left the front and returned to [[barracks]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-12-24 |title=Factions disarm in Ivory Coast |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2007/12/24/2003393928 |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=[[Taipei Times]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002122835/https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2007/12/24/2003393928 |url-status=live }}</ref> When the buffer zone was fully dismantled in July 2008, it was replaced by a "green line" of international peacekeepers, split across seventeen observation points, who would gradually be replaced by joint Ivorian patrols including both New Forces and government troops.<ref name=":15" /> Disarmament and demobilisation encountered several hurdles. Opposition politicians Ouattara and Bédié expressed opposition to the sequencing of disarmament, suggesting that elections should take place first,'''<ref name=":5" />''' while there were occasional riots by contingents of ex-rebels who demanded payment (or augmentation) of the demobilisation payments they had been promised by the new government.<ref name=":9" /> France, Japan, and the United States announced in May 2009 that they would make funds available to cover the election costs and the costs of the disarmament payments.'''<ref name=":5" />'''

Preparations for the presidential election began in 2007, with [[SAGEM|Sagem]], a French company, hired to administer the [[Electoral roll|voters' roll]]; but, in October 2008, the New Forces suggested postponing the election for no more than a year, in order to provide more time for voter registration.<ref name=":5" /> In early November 2008, several Ivorian parties – including Gbagbo, Soro, Bédié, and Ouattara – met in Ouagadougou and agreed to postpone; the UN Security Council called for elections to be held no later than mid-2009.<ref name=":5" /> Despite an announcement in May 2009 that the election would be held on November 29,<ref name=":5" /> it did not take place until October 2010.

== Impact ==
According to 2009 estimates by the [[Uppsala Conflict Data Program]], in its deadliest years between 2002 and 2004, the war had between 933 and 1,689 casualties, with a best guess of 1,265 casualties.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2009 |title=UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset Codebook Version 4 |url=https://ucdp.uu.se/downloads/ |access-date=2022-10-02 |website= |language=en |archive-date=4 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404133316/https://ucdp.uu.se/downloads/ |url-status=live }}</ref> UNOCI suffered 36 casualties during the war: fifteen in 2005, thirteen in 2006, and eight in 2007.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fatalities |url=https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/fatalities |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=United Nations Peacekeeping |language=en |archive-date=19 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719234131/https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/fatalities |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the [[United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|UN Refugee Agency]], approximately 750,000 people were forcibly displaced between 2002 and 2007, including 50,000 [[Refugees from Ivory Coast|refugees]] who fled primarily to Liberia, Guinea, and Mali.<ref>{{Cite web |last=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |author-link=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |date=2021-10-07 |title=UNHCR recommends the cessation of refugee status for Ivorians |url=https://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2021/10/615ec5e74/unhcr-recommends-cessation-refugee-status-ivorians.html |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=[[UN Refugee Agency]] |language=en |archive-date=29 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929015438/https://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2021/10/615ec5e74/unhcr-recommends-cessation-refugee-status-ivorians.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Aftermath: Return to war==
{{Main|2010–2011 Ivorian crisis|Second Ivorian Civil War}}

Ivory Coast held its first presidential elections since 2000 [[2010 Ivorian presidential election|in October 2010]], but a dispute over the result led to [[2010–2011 Ivorian crisis|renewed political crisis]] and to the beginning of the [[Second Ivorian Civil War]]. Soro did not run in the election, nor did the New Forces endorse a candidate.<ref name=":5" /> The Independent Electoral Commission declared Ouattara the winner, a result endorsed by [[Election monitoring|international observers]], but was contradicted in this respect by the [[Constitutional Council (Ivory Coast)|Constitutional Council]];'''<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 December 2010 |title=Ivory Coast poll overturned: Gbagbo declared winner |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11913832 |url-status=live |access-date=20 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712191733/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11913832 |archive-date=12 July 2018}}</ref>''' both Gbagbo and Ouattara claimed victory and took the presidential [[oath of office]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=5 December 2010 |title=Ivory Coast: Two presidents sworn in |publisher=SAPA |url=http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Ivory-Coast-Two-presidents-sworn-in-20101205 |url-status=live |access-date=1 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101208041555/http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Ivory-Coast-Two-presidents-sworn-in-20101205 |archive-date=8 December 2010}}</ref> Hundreds of people were killed in the violence that followed, and hundreds of thousands were displaced.'''<ref>{{Cite news |date=31 March 2011 |title=Ivory Coast: Ouattara forces surround Gbagbo in Abidjan |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12925705 |url-status=live |access-date=20 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202235303/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12925705 |archive-date=2 December 2017}}</ref>''' [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1962|UN Security Council Resolution 1962]] extended UNOCI's mandate and called on all parties to recognise Ouattara as Ivory Coast's rightful president.'''<ref>{{cite news |date=22 December 2010 |title=US eyes bigger UN force in Ivory Coast |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/22/AR2010122203489.html |url-status=dead |access-date=23 December 2010 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/68tKqvPSQ?url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/22/AR2010122203489.html |archive-date=3 July 2012}}</ref>''' The second civil war ended with Gbagbo's defeat and arrest in April 2011, but, despite its brevity, had a higher death toll than the first: a 2012 national [[Public inquiry|commission of inquiry]] recorded 3,248 fatalities.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2012-08-10 |title=Hundreds executed by both sides in Ivorian war: report |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ivorycoast-conflict-inquiry-idUSBRE8790WD20120810 |access-date=2022-10-01 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001181132/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ivorycoast-conflict-inquiry-idUSBRE8790WD20120810 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Simone Gbagbo]]
* [[France–Ivory Coast relations]]
* [[Belarusian mercenaries in Ivory Coast]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Ivorian Civil War}}
* [http://peacemaker.un.org/document-search?keys=&field_padate_value%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=&field_pacountry_tid=Cote+d%27Ivoire&field_paconflict_tid%5B%5D=1 Text of all peace accords for Ivory Coast, UN Peacemaker]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080227132514/http://www.saferaccess.org/documents/Summary%20of%20Armed%20Groups%20and%20Political%20Parties%20in%20Cote%20d'Iv..pdf Safer Access - A Synopsis of Armed Groups and Political Parties in Ivory Coast]
* {{in lang|de}} Sow, Adama: [https://web.archive.org/web/20060524231216/http://www.aspr.ac.at/epu/research/Sow.pdf Ethnozentrismus als Katalysator bestehender Konflikte in Afrika südlich der Sahara, am Beispiel der Unruhen in Côte d'Ivoire] at: European University Center for Peace Studies (EPU), Stadtschleining 2005

{{Ivory Coast topics}}
{{Post-Cold War African conflicts}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivorian Civil War, First}}
[[Category:2002 in Ivory Coast]]
[[Category:2003 in Ivory Coast]]
[[Category:2004 in Ivory Coast]]
[[Category:2005 in Ivory Coast]]
[[Category:2006 in Ivory Coast]]
[[Category:2007 in Ivory Coast]]
[[Category:Civil wars in Ivory Coast]]
[[Category:Civil wars of the 21st century]]
[[Category:Proxy wars]]
[[Category:Separatist rebellion-based civil wars]]
[[Category:Wars involving France]]