Muslim chief's violence chasing residents from homes

Nearly half a million people have been driven from their homes as a result of the post-election violence in the Ivory Coast, and reports confirm that many of the refugees are supporters of former president, a Christian, Laurent Gbagbo.

That's one of the conclusions in a report from Amnesty International about the situation that came to a head when international forces arrived to enforce the installation of a Muslim, Alessane Ouattara, as president.

The report describes a population that is fearful.

"Côte d'Ivoire's continuing crisis of displacement and insecurity describes how ethnically targeted killings and attacks by the government security forces (FCRI) and a militia composed of Dozos (traditional hunters) have left the population unable to leave the relative safety of temporary camps," the report said.

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Amnesty International's West African specialist Salvatore Sagues says the refugees are the victims of ongoing militia activity.

"In this report we trace the fact that more than one-half million displaced people still don't dare to return home because there is an atmosphere of fear provoked by the security forces and those who are in militias," Sagues said.

"They are arresting people, raping women and intimidating people," Sagues added.

Sagues plainly identifies the source of the continued violence as militias who have the ear of Ouattara.

"We are calling on Mr. Ouattara to send a clear sign and instructions to these people to stop doing this," Sagues said.

Sagues said there are other things being sought, too.

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"We are asking him to disband his militias and to create really impartial security forces that can reassure the population in order for the displaced people to return home," Sagues said.

Sagues said that most of the refugees are indeed Gbagbo supporters.

"Yes that is true. In fact, most of the people who are targeted belong to ethnic groups that are globally considered to be real or assumed supporters of Laurent Gbagbo," Sagues explained.

"So these people are not targeted for something they would have done but for most of them, they belong to ethnic groups affiliated with Laurent Gbagbo," Sagues added.

When asked, Sagues refused to say if he believes Ouattara's Muslim beliefs have a part in the violence, referring instead to the various group's tribal affiliations.

That doesn't quite align with other reports coming from the Ivory Coast.

A missionary serving in the Ivory Coast who asked only to be identified as Andrew says Ouattara's religion is playing a part.

"It's obvious, but I don't know how come others can't see how obvious it is. It's my observation that Ouattara is biased to, at least his point of view to his Islamic faith," Andrew stated.

"He is not only permitting the atrocities and persecution, but he's also not speaking against it. I mean the story goes on," Andrew said. "Although my contacts say things are settling down, they're still very fearful."

Andrew said that recently the Ivory Coast capital of Abidjan was filled with heavily armed militia members.

"There were rebel (Ouattara's militias) armies in the city by the hundreds and thousands. My contacts said you couldn't believe how many there were, with heavy artillery, heavily armed," Andrew described.

Andrew said that he still fears for his contact's safety.

"They're being very cautious about what they say because if the intelligence (service) finds out, there could be very serious repercussions," Andrew declared.

WND reported recently that the violence is instigated with both the knowledge and the consent of Ouattara and has previously reported that Ouattara's election was engineered by Muslims in the northern part of the country.

The Amnesty International report was issued at the same time that the British newspaper The Guardian said post-election violence in the Ivory Coast continues.

"In Toulepleu, in the Moyen-Cavelly region close to Liberian border, the police chief Karim Abdul Diarra has a lot on his mind. 'Two months ago Toulepleu was a ghost town, whereas normally it has a population of 50,000,' he explains," the article said.

The police chief continued, "'For a long time the town served as a base for forces loyal to ex-president Laurent Gbagbo, so everyone fled when the pro-Ouattara forces captured it in early March.'" the article added.

This story comes two days after a story in South Africa's News 24 news agency that says the "massacres" continue.

The report begins by saying that the massacres began the day after Ouattara was sworn into office.

"The massacre by the president's men started the day after, at dinner time. The soldiers burst into a clearing on the banks of the river near Cannali, opening fire with a machine gun mounted on a wheelbarrow," the report detailed.

"The dozens of families that had sought refuge in this distant spot dropped their plates of food and kicked over pots as they ran. By the time the soldiers were finished, it was morning and as many as 47 people were dead. The lucky ones drowned in the river," the report added.

Sagues says Amnesty International welcomes the overtures of cooperation from Ouattara.

"We are welcoming all the commitments made by Alessane Ouattara and we're asking him to translate these words into reality," Sagues said.

An investigation by the International Criminal Court has been requested by Amnesty International and human rights groups. However ICC Deputy Prosecutor Fatou Bensouds' spokesperson Florence Olara says no decisions have been made.

"The office of the prosecutor has not opened an investigation into the situation in the Ivory Coast. The office has requested judges for authorization to open an investigation and that decision is still pending," Olara reported.

The Ivory Coast violence developed when Gbagbo and Ouattara both ran for the presidency, previously held by Gbagbo. Ouattara appeared to win, but a constitutional committee in the nation declared there had been voter fraud – and gave the victory to Gbagbo. Then the U.N., France and the U.S. stepped in and demanded that Ouattara be given power.

Ministries that operate in Africa also are reporting Muslim-on-Christian violence in Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt and others.

International Christian Concern's Nigeria specialist Jonathan Racho earlier documented such attacks in Nigeria.

He said 17 Christians were killed in one attack. He said the death toll in Nigeria – since Muslims started a terror rampage on the election to a second term of Christian President Goodluck Jonathan – has topped 600.

WND recently has reported that Egyptian Christians also say they are under siege now, following the Muslim Brotherhood's integration into power.

Reports document attacks by armed gangs on about 60 Coptic Christians during a protest at a national television headquarters and suggest that the Egyptian army has been part of the aggression.

Christians have been demanding without success that the government prosecute the perpetrators of the attack and the burning of the Mar Mina church in the Cairo neighborhood of Imbabba on May 8.

A dozen people were killed and more than 200 were injured there.

Egyptian human rights activist and journalist Wagih Yacoub was an eyewitness to the violence and describes the assault on Christians as an ambush.

"The army left. They were not there and they did nothing after the attacks. Other criminals came and attacked the Christians. We asked for the rescue and the army came after a few hours," Yacoub related.

Sen. Barack Obama with Raila Odinga

In Kenya, President Obama campaigned for the Muslim challenger, Raila Odinga, while Obama was a U.S. senator.

Appearing with Odinga at campaign stops, Obama gave speeches accusing the sitting Kenyan president of being corrupt and oppressive.

But Odinga lost, despite attracting Muslim votes through a secret Memorandum of Understanding with Muslim Sheik Abdullah Abdi, the chief of the National Muslim Leaders Forum of Kenya. In the memo, Odinga promised to rewrite the Kenyan constitution to install Shariah as law in "Muslim declared regions," elevate Islam as "the only true religion" and give Islamic leaders "oversight" over other religions, establish Shariah courts and ban Christian proselytism.

After his loss, Odinga accused the incumbent president of rigging the vote and allegedly incited his supporters to riot. Over the next month, some 1,500 Kenyans were killed and more than 500,000 displaced – with most of the violence led by Muslims, who set churches ablaze and hacked Christians to death with machetes.

Odinga eventually ended up as prime minister in Kenya through a power-sharing arrangement that was enacted in an effort to appease the rioters.