KORHOGO, Ivory Coast, Nov 10 (AFP) - Thousands of Ivory Coast northerners deprived of water, power and phone service since a series of government air strikes last week rallied Wednesday in Korhogo to demand the immediate ouster of President Laurent Gbagbo.
Called into the dusty streets of the town closer to the Burkina Faso border than the main Ivorian city Abidjan, they blasted Gbagbo as an obstacle to peace and reunification of the west African state, split into two since a failed coup in September 2002 erupted into civil war.
"No peace with Gbagbo!" heralded a banner carried by the crowd that grew larger with each street it passed.
Korhogo is considered the rear stronghold of the rebellion born from the grievances of the descendants of Ivory Coast's migrant population, who make up one quarter of the country's 17 million people and are banned from holding citizenship, owning land or running for president.
A peace pact signed in January last year included a sheaf of laws to right those wrongs but they have stalled in debate in the fractious legislature over the rebels' refusal to disarm.
Utilities were cut Thursday across the northern zone that remains in rebel hands since their uprising.
UN and other aid agencies have appealed to the Gbagbo government to restore power and water services to the north, fearing it could compound the humanitarian crisis in the rebel-held zone and lead to outbreaks of disease such as cholera.
The French medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders, MSF) warned the rebel north risked a "massive" cholera epidemic should water and power supplies not be restored.
Four people have died at Korhogo's hospital since the power was cut, said nurse Kadiattou Kone, three of whom were in intensive care and a fourth in the surgical ward.
11/10/2004 16:08 GMT - AFP