Abidjan, Ivory Coast
The African Union this week backed France in a violent dispute with Ivory Coast, a former French colony. African leaders blamed President Laurent Gbagbo’s hard-line government for the current mayhem, which began earlier this month when the Ivorian government broke a cease-fire with rebel troops and attacked a French peacekeeping base. France retaliated by destroying the Ivorian air force, and pro-government mobs began attacking French nationals. Since then, 5,000 Westerners and 10,000 Africans have fled the fighting, the largest evacuation in Africa in a decade. The African Union has asked South African President Thabo Mbeki to set up negotiations between the government and the rebels in Abidjan later this month.
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