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UN to reduce peace keepers in Ivory Coast

UN to reduce peace keepers in Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast

The U.N. Security Council has decided to reduce the number of U.N. peacekeepers in Ivory Coast.

The body said that there has been considerable progress made in stabilizing the West African country where a civil war erupted five years ago.

The 15-nation council unanimously approved a resolution that called for decreasing the maximum number of peacekeepers to 4,000 from 5,437 by the end of March.

This move came after Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara won a second five-year term in October.

Ivory Coast emerged from a decade of political turmoil in 2011 following a brief civil war sparked by former President Laurent Gbagbo’s refusal to recognize Ouattara’s victory in an election in late 2010.

Ouattara has been recognized for reviving the economy of the world’s top cocoa producer, which has grown by an average of about 9 percent over the past four years.

However, human rights group have accused his government of pursuing a policy of victors’ justice in which they say Gbagbo’s allies are prosecuted while alleged crimes committed during the war by Ouattara’s backers go unpunished.

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