(AP) – Ukraine’s Defense Ministry on Nov. 15 denied a United Nations report that it sent military personnel to help restore Ivory Coast’s air force.
“Ukraine’s Defense Ministry has sent no one – not soldiers or employees – to assist Ivory Coast in rebuilding its air force,” the ministry said.
A U.N. report said Nov. 14 that a 10-man team of technicians from Belarus and Ukraine was in Abidjan under contract by the Ivorian Defense Ministry to repair aircraft.
Last year, two Ivorian air force planes attacked a French peacekeeping base, killing nine. French President Jacques Chirac ordered the planes involved in that attack to be destroyed, and the U.N. banned military assistance and arms sales to the African nation.
The U.N. report said it was unclear whether the attempt to rebuild the air force was in violation of the arms embargo, and called on the U.N. sanctions committee on Ivory Coast to look into the matter.According to the United Nations, seven helicopters and planes were destroyed by the French last year, while eight other military aircraft were still in working order. Rebels who control the northern half of Ivory Coast have 11 military aircraft, but none are working or under repair.
