By Ange Aboa ABIDJAN, June 28 (Reuters) - Dissident followers of a sacked rebel chief in western Ivory Coast fought on Saturday with rebel forces which support the internationally-backed peace process in the world's No. 1 cocoa producer, a rebel spokesman said. A local television journalist said three civilians and one dissident insurgent were killed in the fighting at Seguela in the western cocoa belt, more than 400 km (250 miles) northwest of the main commercial city Abidjan in the West African state. Fighting was also reported at another western town, Vavoua, where the dissident fighters had also rebelled against the sacking last month of their commander Kone Zakaria by military leaders of the New Forces rebels who control the north. Ivory Coast's brief 2002/2003 civil war divided the country into two, with the New Forces controlling the north and the government of President Laurent Gbagbo holding the south. The two sides signed a peace and reunification deal in March 2007. The clashes in the west occurred as Gbagbo's coalition government, which now includes the northern New Forces rebels, pushes ahead with preparations for national elections on November 30 that are aimed at finally reunifying the country. Gbagbo and his prime minister, New Forces leader Guillaume Soro, who was appointed under the 2007 peace pact, have said they are committed to holding peaceful elections and to demobilising rebel units and pro-government militias. New Forces spokesman Issa Fleby said Zakaria's supporters were opposing his dismissal last month for indiscipline from the post of western Zone Five commander. New Forces deputy military chief Issiaka Ouattara "Wattao" took over command of the zone. "There are clashes at this moment at Seguela between supporters of Kone Zakaria, who have already taken control of Vavoua, and 'Wattao"s men," Fleby told Reuters. "There are wounded and dead," he added, without giving more details. A local journalist contacted by Reuters at Seguela, Dominique Sam of the New Forces' television Notre Patrie, said he heard firing of rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles. Sam said three civilians had been killed by stray bullets and one of Zakaria's men had also died in the clashes, in which a number of people were wounded. Amadoum Toure, spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast (ONUCI), said he had heard of "protests" at Vavoua, but could not comment further on the fighting. Several thousand U.N. and French peacekeepers are still deployed in Ivory Coast, but since the 2007 peace deal they have pulled back from the buffer zone that once kept apart government and rebel forces. Both the government army and the New Forces rebels have withdrawn their soldiers from frontline positions under a pre-election demobilisation and disarmament process that aims to forge a new united national armed forces under the peace plan. But there have been sometimes violent protests in the rebel ranks in the last few months from fighters who complain they have not received the demobilisation pay they were promised. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/) (Writing by Pascal Fletcher)
A researcher checks young palms at a plantation near the capital Abidjan, May 9, 2008. Researchers in Ivory Coast are asking $1 million for the three-headed hybrid coconut tree they believe ...
