Cote d'Ivoire:New Forces accuse Gbagbo of arming rebels against Liberia's Taylor Abidjan Le Patriote in French 25 Jun 03 p 3 Wednesday, June 25, 2003 Journal Code: 7987 Language: ENGLISH Record Type: FULLTEXT Document Type: Daily Report; News Word Count: 451 In a press statement issued on 23 June, the New Forces accused Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo of financing Liberian rebel movements in order to destabilize President Charles Taylor's regime so as to use Liberia as a rear base for the Ivorian army to attack their positions in Danane and Man in the west of Cote d'Ivoire. The New Forces (MPCI (Patriotic Movement of Cote d'Ivoire), MPIGO (Ivorian Popular Movement of the Greater West), and MJP (Movement for Justice and Peace)) welcomed the negotiations currently taking place on the Liberian crisis in Accra, Ghana, between President Charles Taylor and LURD (Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy) and Model (Movement for Democracy in Liberia) rebels under the auspices of President John Kufuor, the current chairman of the ECOWAS. They, however, made it a point to explain that "President Charles Taylor's Liberia did not help the New Forces in anyway in their ongoing struggle against Gbagbo's regime." "On the contrary, it is rather Gbagbo's regime that supports, finances, and arms the Liberian rebel movements, more particularly the MODEL (that controls eastern and southern Liberia) to destabilize the current government with the aim of using Liberia as a rear base to attack the positions of the New Forces in the west of Cote d'Ivoire," the statement, signed by New Forces spokesman Sidiki Konate, continued. According to them, this is what explains "the confirmed presence of several LURD and MODEL elements, commonly known as the Liberian auxiliaries in the ranks of the FANCI (National Armed Forces of Cote d'Ivoire) at Toulepleu, Bin-Houye, and Guiglo, and which undoubtedly establishes the guilt and the responsibility of the regime of Laurent Gbagbo in the destabilization of Charles Taylor's regime, including the looting, atrocities, and assassinations that these auxiliaries carried out on the people of the west of Cote d'Ivoire." This is why the New Forces would like the international community to be informed about the situation prevailing in Liberia and in the west of Cote d'Ivoire. Furthermore, the New Forces would like the international community to participate actively in the quest for peace and stability in Liberia by giving diplomatic support to the negotiations currently taking place in Ghana so as to end the suffering of the people of Liberia and as result, restore peace and stability to Liberia and the subregion.