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Ivorian ID scheme sparks clashes In Ivory Coast at least one person has been killed and several injured in the southern town of Divo. The clashes were sparked by a UN-backed ID scheme, part of preparations for presidential elections later this year. The scheme will issue identification cards to some 3.5m unregistered people to enable them to vote. But supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo fear rebels could use the plans to register thousands of immigrants in a bid to favour the opposition. "I saw people attacking each other. I saw one dead person and other people injured. They were throwing stones and then there were clubs, iron bars and machetes, and by the end there were gun shots," Reuters news agency quoted an official as saying. The president of Mr Gbagbo's FPI party told AFP news agency that the clashes started after local officials decided not to carry out identifications. "The only way to restore calm is to suspend the identification process. We cannot accept this vast fraud operation," Pascal Affi N'Guessan said. However, a spokesman for the opposition RDR party told AFP its militants were attacked and called for the scheme to continue. Protests Under the plan, hearings are to be held to determine who will receive papers. "There have been incidents everywhere since the process started," an official involved in the identification exercises was quoted by AFP as saying."In the south, it is not going at all the way we would like but there are no problems in the north." In the main city of Abidjan, there were protests last week against the scheme which brought the city to a standstill. Rebel groups control much of the north of the country while the south is government-held. Some 10,000 French and United Nations peacekeepers monitor a buffer zone between the two. However, President Laurent Gbagbo strongly criticised the UN mission last week, saying it was biased in favour of rebels. Presidential elections are due to be held in October. ---------------------------------------------------
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