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Rebels in western Cote d'Ivoire told Agence France-Presse on April 28 that they had found the body of rebel leader Felix Doh near the border with Liberia. Doh's rebel group, the Popular Movement of Ivory Coast's Far West (MPIGO) reportedly was ambushed by a group of mercenary fighters from Liberia who until recently had been working alongside the MPIGO.
After the mutinous uprising by rebel soldiers last September and a few advances and retreats by government forces, the conflict in Cote d'Ivoire has reached a precarious stalemate. The infighting in the MPIGO and Doh's death, however, might herald a dangerous breakdown of even the semblance of stability -- with a free-for-all power grab between rebels and mercenaries in the west, forcing all the rebel groups in both Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia to ratchet up fighting.
Several of the Bulge of Africa countries -- Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia -- have experienced years of civil war and insurgencies. Most of these conflicts can be linked in some way to Liberian President Charles Taylor, who has exploited relationships with rebel groups and Libya to fuel wars in Sierra Leone and Guinea and is thought to be connected to the rebels in western Cote d'Ivoire.
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