Tue, 28 Dec 2010
Nairobi/Abidjan - The presidents of three West African nations on Tuesday met Ivory Coast's defiant leader Laurent Gbagbo to demand he hand over power after last month's disputed elections.
The world recognizes Alassane Ouattara as the rightful president of Ivory Coast, but Gbagbo is using the military to stay in office, sparking unrest that has claimed at least 173 lives.
The leaders of Benin, Sierra Leone and Cape Verde were in Ivory Coast to deliver a message to Gbagbo from regional bloc the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that he must step aside.
ECOWAS on Friday warned that if the leader does not quit, it would "take other measures, including the use of legitimate force, to achieve the goals of the Ivorian people."
Benin's President Yayi Boni said the meeting went well, but refused to give any further details. The delegation had already met the United Nations special envoy YJ Choi and was due to meet Ouattara.
Gbagbo was not expected to heed the call from ECOWAS, as his camp has already warned against outside interference.
The defiant leader has already brushed off huge international pressure, including travel bans from the European Union and the United States, as well as a World Bank aid freeze and the cutting off of access to public funds by West Africa's central bank.
In an interview with French daily Le Figaro published Monday, Gbagbo said he took the ECOWAS threat seriously but was not concerned.
"It would be the first time in Africa that African states declare war against another country only because an election went awry," he said. "We are not afraid ... How far are those attacking us prepared to go?"
The African Union, which has suspended Ivory Coast, said in a statement it backed the ECOWAS mission and also announced it had appointed Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga to "follow through the situation."
Odinga was appointed in 2008 as part of a power-sharing deal that ended months of deadly election-related violence - sparked when he accused President Mwai Kibaki of stealing presidential polls.
The Kenyan premier, who recently said Gbagbo should be removed by force if necessary, said he would attempt to reason with the Ivory Coast strongman should the ECOWAS mission produce no results.
The unusually firm action by the AU, ECOWAS and individual African states on a continent used to disputed elections has surprised many observers.
Pro-Ouattara Ivorians were, however, delighted to see African bodies take responsibility in the crisis.
"I am happy with this decision. For the first time in its history, the African Union is taking significant decisions to solve a dictatorship case on the continent," Konan Adoni, a law student at Abidjan University, told the German Press Agency dpa.
Internal pressure is also still being applied, although people are being more careful since pro-Gbagbo forces opened fire on protesters.
The economic capital Abidjan was in slow motion Tuesday after many transport workers answered a call by pro-Ouattara parties to strike. Few shops were open and, either due to the lack of public transport and fears over security.
One United Nations peacekeeper was wounded and a vehicle burnt after a convoy of three vehicles of the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) was attacked by a crowd on Tuesday in the Abidjan neighborhood of Yopougon.
Gbagbo is still firmly embedded in office and the military, which the UN accuses of extrajudicial killings and abductions, remains in control of Abidjan.
Ouattara is trying to run an alternative government from the UN-protected Golf Hotel in Abidjan, but Gbagbo holds all the instruments of power.
Last month's elections were aimed at healing the divisions left over from a 2002 civil war that split the country into the mainly Muslim north, which backs Ouattara, and Christian south, where Gbagbo holds sway.
However, the polls only highlighted north-south divisions after a Gbagbo ally on the constitutional council overturned electoral commission results handing victory to Ouattara.
According to the United Nations refugee agency UNCHR, over 15,000 Ivorians have fled the country, fearing a return to civil war.
Nairobi/Abidjan - The presidents of three West African nations on Tuesday met Ivory Coast's defiant leader Laurent Gbagbo to demand he hand over power after last month's disputed elections.
The world recognizes Alassane Ouattara as the rightful president of Ivory Coast, but Gbagbo is using the military to stay in office, sparking unrest that has claimed at least 173 lives.
The leaders of Benin, Sierra Leone and Cape Verde were in Ivory Coast to deliver a message to Gbagbo from regional bloc the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that he must step aside.
ECOWAS on Friday warned that if the leader does not quit, it would "take other measures, including the use of legitimate force, to achieve the goals of the Ivorian people."
Benin's President Yayi Boni said the meeting went well, but refused to give any further details. The delegation had already met the United Nations special envoy YJ Choi and was due to meet Ouattara.
Gbagbo was not expected to heed the call from ECOWAS, as his camp has already warned against outside interference.
The defiant leader has already brushed off huge international pressure, including travel bans from the European Union and the United States, as well as a World Bank aid freeze and the cutting off of access to public funds by West Africa's central bank.
In an interview with French daily Le Figaro published Monday, Gbagbo said he took the ECOWAS threat seriously but was not concerned.
"It would be the first time in Africa that African states declare war against another country only because an election went awry," he said. "We are not afraid ... How far are those attacking us prepared to go?"
The African Union, which has suspended Ivory Coast, said in a statement it backed the ECOWAS mission and also announced it had appointed Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga to "follow through the situation."
Odinga was appointed in 2008 as part of a power-sharing deal that ended months of deadly election-related violence - sparked when he accused President Mwai Kibaki of stealing presidential polls.
The Kenyan premier, who recently said Gbagbo should be removed by force if necessary, said he would attempt to reason with the Ivory Coast strongman should the ECOWAS mission produce no results.
The unusually firm action by the AU, ECOWAS and individual African states on a continent used to disputed elections has surprised many observers.
Pro-Ouattara Ivorians were, however, delighted to see African bodies take responsibility in the crisis.
"I am happy with this decision. For the first time in its history, the African Union is taking significant decisions to solve a dictatorship case on the continent," Konan Adoni, a law student at Abidjan University, told the German Press Agency dpa.
Internal pressure is also still being applied, although people are being more careful since pro-Gbagbo forces opened fire on protesters.
The economic capital Abidjan was in slow motion Tuesday after many transport workers answered a call by pro-Ouattara parties to strike. Few shops were open and, either due to the lack of public transport and fears over security.
One United Nations peacekeeper was wounded and a vehicle burnt after a convoy of three vehicles of the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) was attacked by a crowd on Tuesday in the Abidjan neighborhood of Yopougon.
Gbagbo is still firmly embedded in office and the military, which the UN accuses of extrajudicial killings and abductions, remains in control of Abidjan.
Ouattara is trying to run an alternative government from the UN-protected Golf Hotel in Abidjan, but Gbagbo holds all the instruments of power.
Last month's elections were aimed at healing the divisions left over from a 2002 civil war that split the country into the mainly Muslim north, which backs Ouattara, and Christian south, where Gbagbo holds sway.
However, the polls only highlighted north-south divisions after a Gbagbo ally on the constitutional council overturned electoral commission results handing victory to Ouattara.
According to the United Nations refugee agency UNCHR, over 15,000 Ivorians have fled the country, fearing a return to civil war.
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