France's Little Iraq

The best news from Ivory Coast in recent weeks is that there hasn't been much news. After French soldiers destroyed the pitiful Ivorian air force - two aged jets and a few helicopters - in a revenge rampage last month, it seemed the country was tipping into the type of civil war that Africa has seen too often: a nation tearing itself apart while a "peacekeeping" army of its former colonial masters waits benignly in the wings.

That depressing post- colonial cliche should not be applied to Ivory Coast - despite the efforts of the lazier sections of the media.

When fighting broke out in the north of the country, against those opposed to President Laurent Gbagbo's government, the news headlines here were unequivocal. "Ivory Coast descends into chaos" (the Times) and "Paratroopers and tanks move in to quell Ivory Coast unrest" (Daily Telegraph) followed the bombings that killed nine French soldiers in early November.

As tensions rose and the French carried out revenge attacks, the bellicose coverage continued. "We fled machete mobs," blared the Sunday Times on November 14 summoning up the dark heart of Africa for readers safely home in Britain.

So far, so bad. But of course the story didn't stop there. As France's peacekeeping turned sour, the Africa Union stepped in to reinvigorate the country's power-sharing and peace process. South Africa's president Thabo Mbeki travelled north on behalf of the union earlier this month, and was met by cheering crowds.

"We want to clear the way for a better life for everyone in Ivory Coast," Mbeki said, reported by the Associated Press. Here was a good news story, of African countries cooperating to solve the problems in their own backyard. After all the tales of looting, rape and murder, was this optimistic note sounded in the British press? Not a word.

When it comes to those countries of sub-Saharan Africa that don't play cricket, the appetite for "peace breaks out" news is calorie-free. Even the announcement this month, that things had calmed down enough to allow France to withdraw 1,000 troops, did not make it into the papers.

Ivory Coast is a perfect example of the misrepresentation of Africa in the west's eyes. Other than the Ivorian footballers drafted into European teams, the country hardly rates a mention. Yet far from being an economic basketcase, Ivory Coast was one of the success stories of modern sub-Saharan Africa. Not only is it the world's major producer of cocoa, but besides South Africa it can boast the best infrastructure and most sophisticated economy on the continent.

Ivory Coast's post- independence growth followed a period of stability under its first president, the dictator Félix Houphouet-Boigny, since the country ceased to be a colony in 1960. But that stability has come under threat, as the grip of strong men such as Houphouet-Boigny and his successor Henri Bédié weakened.

Both men favoured the predominantly Francophone and wealthy Christian south of the country, and were happy to allow France to retain its colonial prerogatives, dressed up as partnership, into the modern era.

That cosy pattern was disrupted in 1999, as the ham-fisted Bédié provoked deep unpopularity and was later deposed by the Ivorian army. The coup appeared to herald a greater degree of democracy, especially in voting rights for the country's huge immigrant population and the status of their offspring.

The nationality issue had come to a head over the status of Alassane Ouattara, the talented technocrat who was barred from running in the 1995 presidential election by Bédié, on the grounds that he was a foreigner - which Ouattara hotly disputes.

Stripped of his Ivorian citizenship in 1999, Ouattara is popular in the north of the country. That area has been in the hands of the New Forces rebels since 2002. It is a sign of the optimism following Mbeki's intervention that the painful issue of "Ivorianess" - the xenophobic policy of populist nationalism - may be resolved. But Gbagbo remains the key to any peace deal. So far he has proved adept at out-manoeuvring the French.

Ironically, the French generally turned a blind eye to "Ivorianess" when it was deployed against political rivals such as Ouattara. But when Gbagbo's paramilitary supporters - the appropriately named Young Patriots - began targeting foreign French citizens, France became more violent. The result was French soldiers in Abidjan firing into an unarmed group of protesters early in November, killing some 50 to 60 civilians.

France initially denied the shootings, but eventually put the death toll at 20. In an echo of the 1958 Sakiet crisis - when French bombers attacked a village in Tunisia said to be harbouring Algerian guerrillas - there are calls for international investigations into France's bloody reprisals. No wonder some have called Ivory Coast "France's little Iraq".

Meanwhile, the Africa Union has restarted the peace process, as the dregs of France's influence in Africa ebbs away. If all this good news keeps up, we may hear little more from Ivory Coast for years.