Events in Ivory Coast may "spin out of control with incalculable consequences" for its people and the region unless armed militias are reined in, Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned in a new report. He told the Security Council in the report circulated Wednesday that the security situation in Ivory Coast remains "precarious," the disarmament of ex-combatants and militias hasn't started, and the mobilization of militia-type groups is increasing nationwide. "I am deeply concerned by the arming of these militias, and their increasingly dangerous activities, including in Abidjan," Annan said. "These groups ... may provoke a major confrontation." Ivory Coast has been split into a rebel-held north and loyalist south since a September 2002 coup attempt propelled the world's largest cocoa grower into civil war. A May 2003 ceasefire agreement that ended the fighting has been repeatedly violated.
