Ivory Coast tense as pressure mounts on Gbagbo - Summary

Fri, 17 Dec 2010

Nairobi/Abidjan, Ivory Coast - Ivory Coast was tense Friday as an African Union mediator arrived in the wake of deadly clashes and international pressure grew on incumbent Laurent Gbagbo to give up his claim to the presidency.

Gbagbo is clinging onto power despite wide recognition of Alassane Ouattara as the rightful winner of last month's polls, which were aimed at ending a decade of political and civil crisis and setting the world's largest cocoa grower on the road to economic recovery.

Instead, the election has threatened to plunge the West African nation back into civil war.

Soldiers on Thursday opened fire as protesters in the economic capital, Abidjan, tried to take control of the state television, which has remained under Gbagbo's control and has been broadcasting news favorable to the incumbent.

A spokeswoman for Gbagbo said 20 people died, 10 of them military, while Ouattara's party said at least 30 protesters had been killed. Gunbattles also broke out around the Golf Hotel, from which Ouattara is trying to run his alternative government with security from United Nations peacekeepers and the former northern rebel group New Forces.

Despite calls for more protests, the streets of Abidjan were relatively quiet Friday as Jean Ping, the chairman of the African Union Commission, arrived. A tight-lipped Ping met YJ Choi, the head of the UN mission in Ivory Coast, but made no statement.

There was a heavy military presence in Abidjan, and some reports said Gbagbo troops were firing into the air as they patrolled areas favoring Ouattara.

Pressure is growing on Gbagbo as normally more circumspect African bodies such as the AU and Economic Community of West African States added their voices to the international chorus calling for him to stand down.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also once again urged Gbagbo to step aside.

"I call on him to step down and allow his elected successor to assume office without further hindrance," Ban said. "The international community must send this message - loud and clear. Any other outcome would make a mockery of democracy and the rule of law."

The European Union is considering asset freezes and visa bans on 11 key Gbagbo allies, including Paul Yao N'Dre, the head of the constitutional council, which overturned electoral commission results handing Ouattara victory.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking in Brussels, said the EU is united in demanding Gbagbo quit power in the former French colony.

"Mr Gbagbo has no choice but to leave the power he has usurped as quickly as possible," he said at the end of a summit in Brussels. "If he has not stepped down within a week, he will be on the list of sanctions."

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, speaking in Nairobi, said that Gbagbo should be removed by force if necessary, calling on the AU to "develop teeth."

The fears of civil war have led to thousands fleeing to neighboring Liberia. According to the UN refugee agency, more than 4,200 people have headed for safer ground and preparations are being put in place for an exodus.

Ivory Coast was plunged into war between the mainly Muslim north and Christian south in 2002 when Gbagbo, who came to power in the wake of violent demonstrations at the 2000 presidential elections, survived a coup attempt.

A 2007 peace deal brought the northern rebels into government, but the north-south divisions have never gone away.