Ivory Coast factions withdraw from former buffer zone, begin disarmament process

Hundreds of rebels and government soldiers withdrew from the former buffer zone that once split Ivory Coast, and returned to their barracks in the first stage of a nationwide disarmament program expected to last three months.

Several hundred soldiers who had gathered south of the buffer zone at Tiebissou climbed into trucks Saturday and drove to an army barracks in the capital, Yamoussoukro.

North of the buffer zone at Djebonoua, rebels also packed into vehicles and headed toward military barracks their stronghold at Bouake, where they will eventually hand in their weapons to either be integrated into the army or demobilized.

"Starting …