The First Ivorian Civil War was a conflict in the Ivory Coast (also known as Côte d'Ivoire) that began in 1999. Although most of the fighting ended by late 2004, the country remained split in two, with a rebel-held north and a government-held south. Hostility increased and raids on foreign troops and civilians rose. As of 2006, the region was tense, and many said the UN and the French military failed to calm the civil war.
The Second Ivorian Civil War broke out in March 2011 when the in Ivory Coast escalated into full-scale military conflict between forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo, the President of Ivory Coast since 2000, and supporters of the internationally recognised president-elect Alassane Ouattara.
Civil War
Ivory Coast's History
A French colony since 1893, Ivory Coast became independent in 1960. Rich in cocoa and coffee, the country enjoyed economic and political stability under its first president, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, who remained allied to the west while many other African countries flirted with Marxism or experienced violent changes of power. He was always careful to calm tensions between the country's more than 60 ethnic groups. It also has a sharp religious divide, with a Christian south and a Muslim north.
He died in 1993, and his successor, Henri Konan Bédié, was less focused on avoiding tensions. Unlike Houphouët-Boigny, who welcomed in millions of immigrants from neighbouring countries, Bédié stressed the concept of "Ivority". This was mainly to hurt his rival, Alassane Ouattara, whose father was from Burkina Faso.
In 1999, disgruntled soldiers under General Robert Guéï toppled Bédié in a coup. After a year of military rule, Guéï and Laurent Gbabgo, below, contested an election, with Ouattara again excluded from the ballot over nationality claims, much to the anger of his supporters in the north.
With Gbagbo, who draws his main support in the south, leading the poll, Guéï cried fraud and declared himself the victor. He was quickly overthrown and Gbagbo assumed power, but within two years renegade troops led a coup against him. Though it failed, the uprising quickly turned into a major rebellion, backed by northerners. The country split in two. A peace accord was signed in 2007, but elections planned for 2005 were consistently postponed, with most of the blame falling on Gbagbo. When an election runoff finally occurred last November, Gbagbo refused to accept the result, which gave him 46% to Ouattara's 54%. A day later, the constitutional council, run by his allies, overturned the verdict.