ABIDJAN, Nov 24 (Reuters) - At least two fighters were killed in western Ivory Coast on Monday in an attack by suspected dissident rebels who tried to seize an armoury, the New Forces rebel group which controls the area said. The New Forces hold the northern half of the world's No. 1 cocoa grower which they seized in a 2002/03 civil war, but since a peace deal last year they are part of a government coalition ruling under their old foe President Laurent Gbagbo. A presidential election scheduled for Nov. 30 has been postponed until next year because of delays in voter registration and disarmament of ex-combatants, some of whom have staged barracks revolts this year to demand demobilisation pay. The New Forces said that armed men tried to seize control of the armoury early on Monday at Seguela at the heart of the western cocoa belt. The attackers also released prisoners. "The death toll so far is one dead from the New Forces, and one dead on the side of the attackers," a New Forces statement said. It added the New Forces military hierarchy was investigating the latest attack at Seguela, which was briefly seized in June by a breakaway rebel faction protesting at the sacking of their leader by New Forces commanders. Some New Forces soldiers turned renegade this year when their former chief Kone Zakaria was fired for his opposition to the March 2007 internationally-backed peace deal that reconciled President Gbagbo with his former northern rebel enemies. Zakaria is living in exile in neighbouring Burkina Faso. Both the government army and the New Forces have withdrawn their soldiers from frontline positions under the peace process intended to pave the way for the presidential election. No date has been announced yet for the rescheduled polls. (Reporting by Ange Aboa; Writing by Daniel Magnowski; Editing by Pascal Fletcher)
Sand is piled on at the site of the Bonikro gold project, about 240 kilometres north-west of Abidjan, November 21, 2008. The Bonikro mine is the Ivory Coast's newest and biggest ...
