Shots fired in Ivory Coast standoff between rival camps - Summary

Mon, 13 Dec 2010

Nairobi/Abidjan - Shots were fired in the air as troops loyal to Ivory Coast's rival presidents engaged in a tense standoff Monday around the headquarters of internationally recognized Alassane Ouattara.

Troops loyal to incumbent Laurent Gbagbo sealed off roads to the United Nations-protected Golf Hotel, from where Ouattara - the man the world sees as Ivory Coast's rightful president - is trying to run an alternative government.

The electoral commission named Ouattara as winner of last month's presidential election - a result certified by the UN - only to be over-ruled by a Gbabgo ally on Ivory Coast's constitutional council.

Former northern rebel group New Forces, which backs Ouattara and has soldiers stationed at his hotel, accused Gbagbo's troops of being "putschists" who had mounted a failed attack.

"The armed wing of the New Forces delivered a shock to soldiers favorable to Laurent Gbagbo, who attempted an offensive on the Golf Hotel where the Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara and his government are staying," the group, headed up by Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, said in a statement on its website.

Shots were fired in the air when the New Forces removed a checkpoint, Radio France International reported.

The increase in tension came as European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels said they were beginning the process of instituting sanctions.

"These measures will include a visa ban and asset freeze targeting those leading figures who refuse to accept the democratically elected president," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton told a news conference.

Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Alfredo Mantica explained that restrictions are likely to target "Gbagbo, his family and his close entourage."

Pressure is growing on Gbagbo, with normally more circumspect African bodies such as the African Union and West African bloc ECOWAS adding their voices to the international chorus calling for him to stand down.

However, Gbagbo is clinging onto power and enjoys the backing of the Army in the south Ivory Coast, which was split by a 2002 civil war.

The election was supposed to end almost a decade of political and civil crisis in Ivory Coast but has instead raised fears of a return to war between the mainly Muslim north and Christian south.

The brief conflict broke out 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 rebels into government through Soro, but the north-south divisions have never gone away.