A pistol stuck into his combat trousers, in the middle of a muddle of 50 militiamen, the young man started to sing. His deep, melodic voice found its answer in the ranks of his fellow combatants, who stamped their feet to provide the rhythm. When an officer barked out the command “Left turn”, half the soldiers jumped smartly to their left, and the others wheeled to their right. The Front for the Liberation of the Great West, or FLGO, is not your average military unit – even in Ivory Coast. It was founded more than two years ago by self-proclaimed General Denis Maho in the western, government-controlled town of Guiglo. General Maho says his troops are not a militia, but an “army of resistance”, created to fight off the rebels who swept down from the north of the country in autumn 2002.Full Story