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The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution imposing an immediate arms embargo on war-torn Cote d'Ivoire to press its government and rebels to revive the country's long-stalled peace process.
The resolution, passed by a vote of 15-0, provides that "all states shall, for a period of 13 months from the adoption of this resolution, take necessary measures" to prevent supplies of arms to Cote d'Ivoire.
The resolution, tabled by France, was co-sponsored by Algeria, Chile, Romania, Germany, Britain and the United States.
The council agreed last week to give the Ivorian government and the rebel New Forces one month to revive the peace process before slapping an arms embargo and other sanctions on the West African nation. It postponed the vote until Monday to allow the African Union more time to mediate between the rival Ivorian parties.
But France amended the draft earlier on Monday and called for an immediate weapons ban on Cote d'Ivoire after African leaders voiced backing for doing so at a meeting in the Nigerian capital of Abuja on Saturday.
Under the resolution, other sanctions measures -- a travel ban and a freeze of assets -- will enter into force on Dec. 15 if the Ivorian parties fail to implement the peace deals they signed earlier.
A Security Council committee will be set up to establish a list of individuals who would be subject to the travel ban and the freeze of assets. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan would report to the council on the implementation of the resolution by March 15.
The resolution also demands Ivorian authorities stop all radio and television broadcasting hatred messages against French and other foreign nationals in the country.
The measure was introduced by France last week after Ivorian warplanes bombed rebel sites and a French camp in the rebel-held northern Cote d'Ivoire.
The attacks killed nine French peacekeepers and one American relief worker. France retaliated by destroying Cote d'Ivoire's tiny air force. The reprisal sparked turmoil and violence against French and other foreigners in the main Ivorian commercial city of Abidjan.
The Ivorian government and the rebel New Forces signed a peace agreement near Paris in January 2003, under which a government of national reconciliation was established in April that year. But the rebels later withdrew from the new government, leaving the peace process in deadlock.
In July 2004, with the help of Annan, the two sides inked a new accord in Accra, the capital of Ghana, which provided for steps to revitalize the peace process, including legislative reforms and disarmament of the rebels. The accord has not yet been carried out.
Cote d'Ivoire, the world's largest coco producer and a former French colony, was plunged into a civil war in September 2002. It remains divided with the government holding the south and the rebel controlling the north.
(Xinhua News Agency November 16, 2004)
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