to the defence and interior portfolios. However, he declined to appoint the defence candidate proposed by the National Security Council, retired General Ouassenan Koré. Angered by this unilateral deviation from the Accra II agreement, New Forces representatives announced they would protest the move by suspending their participation in the reconciliation government. They also said that Gbagbo had refused to delegate executive powers to the prime minister and reconciliation government, as stipulated by the Linas-Marcoussis Accord, and warned that the resumption of violence was a real possibility. By the end of 2003, disarmament had not been implemented – in contravention of a 1 October deadline – and military authority in the country remained bifurcated under a de facto north-south partition, while inter-ethnic violence continued in the west, particularly between local Guéré and Yacouba. By then, over 700,000 people had been displaced in the conflict. On 27 February 2004, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1528, authorising the replacement of MINUCI with an ambitious peacekeeping operation, the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), with a mandate to police the buffer zone between the belligerents. However, in the first half of 2004, events inside Ivory Coast did not bode well for the implementation of the Linas-Marcoussis Accord, as relations between Ivorian actors continued to deteriorate. In mid-February, Ivorian authorities issued a ministerial decree which would "Ivorianise" workplaces, requiring that companies could only hire foreigners if they submitted a plan to turn the post over to an Ivorian within two years. On 4 March, opposition party PDCI suspended its participation in the reconciliation government, accusing FPI ministers of taking unilateral decisions. On 10 March, one group of Young Patriots stormed the main Ivorian courthouse and physically attacked several magistrates; while another attacked the Hotel du Golf, the residence of the New Forces ministers. The same week, responding to violent demonstrations by students in Daloa, state forces killed one student and wounded 48 others. Peace march: 25 March 2004 On 25 March, opposition parties organised a public demonstration in Abidjan to call on the government to implement the Linas-Marcoussis Accord. In response, the security forces and pro-government militias opened fire on the demonstrators, while other opposition supporters were rounded up by militias in subsequent days. In May, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights concluded an inquiry into the march and aftermath, finding that: at least 120 people were killed, 274