3 killed.. or was it 5.. or..?

Police officers fired live rounds on demonstrators at an anti-government rally this past week. Ivorians took to the streets to protest the government shutting down and denying citizenship to most of the people. There are different reports on the number of people killed, but it ranges from 3-5 people. While the number of victims in this attack is unknown, we do know that more than a dozen others were injured. Protests spread to at least eight cities in the Ivory Coast. The deadly protest took place in a city called Gagnoa. Gagnoa is about 125 miles northwest of Abidjan, the economic capital of Côte d'Ivoire.

There are two newspapers that are pretty similar in their reporting. BBC News and AlJazeera.net, both say hundreds were fired upon, 3 were killed, and dozens injured. Both also have good sources, but AlJazeera goes one step further and has direct quotes from people who were actually there. Yvonne Ndege, a reporter for AlJazeera and reporting from Abidjan said, "Naturally, a lot of the people who are supporting the opposition have no choice but to take to the streets in defiance of Gbagbo and that decision that he took." BBC News has statements from second-hand sources. For example it says, "A police source confirmed to the Associated Press that there were 'Some Dead', but he could not say how many had been killed."

The New York Times started their article off by saying, "Police fired on demonstrators at an anit-govenmaent rally, killing five people and wounding a dozen others in Ivory Coast's latest protest since the president dissolved the government a week ago, the opposition said." Right in the first sentence it's different from the other sources. Which means that the New York Times was either embellishing the facts to try and get sympathy and sell more papers, or they had some info that the other newspapers didn't. One of the good parts of the New York Times article is that they quoted the U.N deputy spokeswoman who in turn quoted the U.N Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as having expressed, "grave concern" about the Ivorian political situation.

Works Cited:

"The New York Times Log In." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. Web. 25 Feb. 2010.

"Al Jazeera English - Africa - Deaths in Ivory Coast demonstration." Al Jazeera English - AJE. Web. 25 Feb. 2010.

"BBC News - Several dead in Ivory Coast clashes." BBC NEWS News Front Page. Web. 25 Feb. 2010.

Côte d'Ivoire.

With a population of over twenty million people, Cote d'Ivoire (aka Ivory Coast, West Africa), has had it's fair share of struggles over the years. Ivory Coast gained their independence in 1960 and have been struggling to establish a working government ever since. December of 1999 was the first time in history Cote d'Ivoire overthrew their government. Immediately following that upheaval, Robert Guei rigged the first elections and made himself the leader. With the help of protesters, Laurent Gbagbo forced Guei out and took control.

Gbagbo has had no major problems until September of 2002, when Ivorian rebel forces, called New Force, tried to take control of the country. The rebels failed to throw Gbagbo out of power but, they did manage to claim the northern half of the country. Instead of continuing to fight, the rebels and President Gbagbo decided to jointly govern the country. In March of 2007, the rebel leader Guillaume Soro and President Gbagbo agreed to reunite the country, make a strong national army, and hold government elections. After this agreement, Soro became Prime Minister.

Now in 2010, President Gbagbo has dispersed the government and electoral commission and Prime Minister Soro has been asked to create a new government. These elections have been postponed over and over again since 2005. President Gbagbo accused the electoral commission of trying to bump up the numbers of voters by allowing people not from Cote d'Ivoire to be on the voter list. The question of who can vote ad who is classified as a legal Ivorian is sparking major protests from the millions of people who feel alienated.

Works Cited:
Wikipedia contributors. "Côte d'Ivoire." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 22 Feb. 2010. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.

"Facts About Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire)." World Facts. Web. 23 Feb. 2010.

"Al Jazeera English - Africa - Ivory Coast government dissolved." Al Jazeera English - AJE. Web. 23 Feb. 2010.

"BBC News - Ivory Coast President Gbagbo dissolves government." BBC NEWS News Front Page. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.