UN forces threatened in Ivory Coast

Mon Jan 3, 2011

The UN peacekeepers operating in Ivory Coast have come under new threats, which indicate the escalating tension in the West African country following the disputed November 28 run-off presidential election.

"UN out!" people yelled honking their horns as the Jordanian UN peacekeepers passed by in their armored vehicle in Abidjan, the Associated Press reported on Sunday.

According to the report, peacekeepers patrolling the streets in Abidjan, the largest city in the country, are coming under increasing threats.

Both incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo and opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara have claimed victory in the November 28 run-off presidential election.

Ivory Coast's electoral commission declared Outtara as winner of the vote, while the Constitutional Court announced Gbagbo as the president-elect.

However, most of the international community, major powers, and the African Union have recognized Ouattara as the winner.

Likewise, the UN declared Ouattara the winner of Ivory Coast's long-delayed presidential vote. Gbagbo accuses the world body of failing to remain neutral.

In another act of violence against the UN forces in Abidjan, a soldier was injured with a knife this week when a crowd in a pro-Gbagbo neighborhood attacked a convoy and set the UN vehicle on fire.

The next day, a UN patrol was fired upon from a nearby building as an angry crowd surrounded them. They were forced to fire into the air to disperse the crowd, a UN statement said.

"It is not the role of UN forces to shoot people, nor is it their role to fight a war," Gbagbo said on state-run RTI television a day later, demanding the forces leave the country.

According to the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, about 20,000 Ivorians have fled to neighboring Liberia, fearing the political deadlock in the country might lead to a civil war.

Ouattara has taken refuge in Abidjan's Golf Hotel since the vote. The hotel is currently protected by an 800-strong force of UN peacekeepers.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158397.html.