Cote d'Ivoire: Rebels say ready for talks, to keep weapons Paris Radio France Internationale in French 1230 GMT 09 Oct 02 RADIO FRANCE INTERNATIONALE Wednesday, October 9, 2002 Journal Code: 2188 Language: ENGLISH Record Type: FULLTEXT Document Type: Daily Report; News Word Count: 376 Cote d'Ivoire's Laurent Gbagbo has just said, lay down your weapons. Meanwhile, the mutinous soldiers' reply is distrust and distrust. However, the rebels say they are ready.... (Announcer pauses) or rather not opposed to talks. Let us listen to Warrant Officer Tuo Fozie, the representative of the rebels, on the line from Bouake with Monique Mas. (Begin recording) (Tuo) We shall maintain our positions in view of Gbagbo's speech. We say that we are ready to hold talks but we will keep our weapons. We trust and respect ECOWAS but we do not trust Gbagbo because if we make a slight error he will not forgive anyone. Talks brokered by mediators can help to bring us closer. (Mas) Do you agree that it is somewhat complicated for a government to accept to hold talks with armed people? (Tuo) Well, if we were the type of armed people you are referring to, I agree it would not be easy. Meanwhile, we are not such people. We are ready to cooperate with our weapons at hand but without wielding these weapons. For example, when we went to meet with the ECOWAS representatives, we were not holding pistols. When France asked us to observe a 72-hour cease-fire for the evacuation of French nationals, we stopped everything; we listened to them, and we accepted their request. That same night, government forces attacked us at two locations. The ECOWAS mediation team came to ask us to observe a cease-fire for the purpose of holding talks. We accepted the offer but they (the government forces) rejected the offer and attacked us. You can now understand that we can trust other people but for now we do not have faith in what President Gbagbo says in view of what has happened on several occasions. Trust has to be merited. One has to merit our trust before we lay down our weapons. (end recording)