Ivory Coast November 2010 Election

[57Chevy]

I am not advocating that Canada send troops to the Ivory Coast either, but the UN is prepared and will do what is necessary.
                                        ____________________________________

New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Friday his proposal to deploy an additional 2,000 troops to beef up the beleaguered UN mission in Ivory Coast is being considered by the UN Security Council.

The UN mission in Ivory Coast, currently with about 9,000 military and civilians, has been shaken by mounting pressure and attacks from forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo, who lost the presidency in an election to rival Alassane Ouattara.

Gbagbo has refused to step down while Ouattara is under UN protection in Abidjan.

Ban said the request for the additional troops is being discussed by the 15-nation council. British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant confirmed to reporters that a draft resolution is under discussion to authorize the deployment.

Ban reiterated during a press conference a warning to Gbagbo and his supporters that they will be accountable for attacks against the UN. He said the UN has information that Gbagbo directly ordered those attacks and his supporters have committed "grave human rights violations," which the International Criminal Court at The Hague intends to investigate.

Access to the UN headquarters in Abidjan's Golf Hotel has been restricted by Gbagbo's troops. UN vehicles were burned while UN patrols have been fired at.

"The United Nations will not be deterred and will not be intimidated," Ban said. He said the fresh troops to be authorized by the council would reinforce the mission in Ivory Coast.

Ban called on Gbagbo to "stand aside" in order not to aggravate the situation in the country.

Asked whether he would support use of force to remove Gbagbo, Ban said African leaders had considered that as a last resort. African Union and leaders from some West African countries had met with Gbagbo to convince him to step down, but they were not successful.

"It's up to them," Ban said. "I am not sure where they stand now."

Ouattara supported the use of force during a video teleconference with reporters in Washington on Friday.

article link -->UN condemns attacks against its peace mission in Ivory Coast - Summary
                   
                          (Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act)

(highlights mine)

 

[57Chevy]

.......
The resolution, drafted by France and the US, had been held up for several days by Security Council negotiations over some of the "political" language, with Russia expressing the most concern.

But diplomats said today that all 15 members of the Security Council were now behind the resolution.

full article:
UN to send '2000 troops' to Ivory Coast

                            (Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act)

 

[57Chevy]

Security Council Reinforces UN Mission With More Peacekeepers, Helicopters:
Article link
The UN Security Council today authorized the immediate reinforcement of its nearly 9,000-strong peacekeeping mission in Côte d'Ivoire with an additional 2,000 peacekeepers and three armed helicopters to help protect civilians in the post-electoral deadlock gripping the country.

see full article al link...
__________________________________________
also:  (Anything chocolate is going to cost a bit more)
__________________________________________
Ivory Coast's president-elect Alassane Ouattara imposes cocoa export ban

The price of cocoa is expected to spike on Monday after the Ivory Coast's president-elect, Alassane Ouattara, imposed a one-month ban on cocoa exports in an effort to oust his rival.

Mr Ouattara, the internationally recognised victor of disputed elections last November, sent a letter to leading exporters on Sunday ordering them to stop shipments from today until February 23.

Since cocoa represents the country's main source of income, he is hoping to cut the funding his rival Laurient Gbagbo needs to fund the public sector and the military,

Ivory Coast is the world's largest producer of cocoa beans and accounts for approximately one third of global production.

The price of cocoa had already hit a five-month high last week – at $2, 150 (£1,340) per tonne in London – over concerns about political unrest following the disputed election.

Traders will now be concerned that exports could stop as soon as Monday and it is thought that the price could jump by as much as 10pc when markets open.

more at link....
                            (Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act)

 

[Redeye]

You cannot put all the blame as to why Zimbabwe is no longer the breadbasket of Africa on political aspects.

Not to get too far off topic, but while Zim has suffered through a few droughts, that's hardly the main reason for its downfall.  Since about 2000 when Mugabe and his ZANU-PF started "land reforms", which basically involved chasing (white) farmers off their land and handing it to cronies who allowed the soil to be ruined, erode, etc.  Droughts were a contributor but probably not a major one.  They're nothing new in Zimbabwe anyhow, and to a great extent there was irrigation infrastructure to allow a fairly reasonable harvest during droughts according that were much worse than those in recent years.

I'd say that perhaps not all the blame goes to politics - but probably 98%.

Rather hilariously, back in 2005, Comrade Mugabe's mouthpiece The Herald blamed the US & UK for droughts. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4630443.stm)

 

[57Chevy]

Not to get too far off topic either, but I agree that the farming land grab was not in the best "breadbasket" interest.
Mr. Mugabe imagining some king of weather tampering by the US/UK is pretty far fetched......but not impossible.

As it stands, the whole southern portion of Africa is experiencing a new problem.....floods:
quote;
Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe have also been affected by heavy rains, says Elizabeth Byrs, of the UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
                            (Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act)
Full article: South African flood deaths rise to 70 (22 January 2011)

Five other countries in the region, from Mozambique to Namibia, are on alert for further floods.
Some of the biggest rivers in the region, the Zambezi and the Okavango, are at about twice their normal levels.
South Africa has declared eight of its nine provinces disaster areas.
                            _______________________________________________________
back to the topic....
Gbagbo forces accused over killings, rapes in I. Coast

UNITED NATIONS — Security forces and militias loyal to Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo have carried out extrajudicial killings, torture and rape as the country's turmoil worsens, a rights group said Tuesday.

Human Rights Watch revealed details of an investigation in Ivory Coast as the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor said he had launched a preliminary inquiry into whether action is warranted for attacks on UN peacekeepers.

Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said he was collecting evidence to present to ICC judges to decide on a full investigation. A UN special envoy said she was also "deeply troubled" by allegations of killing, maiming and abduction of children in the cocoa-rich nation.

"The security forces and militias supporting Laurent Gbagbo are imposing a reign of terror against his real or perceived opponents," said Daniel Bekele, HRW's Africa director.

The group said it had found evidence of an often-organized campaign of violence targeting members of opposition political parties, ethnic groups, Muslims and immigrants from neighboring countries.

Gbagbo is refusing to hand over power to Alassane Ouattara, the internationally-backed winner of a November 28 presidential election.

He has demanded that UN peacekeepers leave the country and shrugged off a threat of military intervention by other West African countries. More than 260 people have been killed and 29,000 people have fled the country since the election, according to UN figures.

HRW said its researchers spoke with more than 100 victims of and witnesses to violence, including militia killings with bricks and clubs, and sexual assaults.

"Witnesses described seeing family members or neighbors dragged from their homes, mosques, restaurants, or the street into waiting vehicles," it said in a statement, noting that many just "disappeared."

Some people found the bullet-ridden bodies of missing relatives in morgues or on a pile of bodies in a refuse dump, said the report.

Several women reported being gang raped by security forces during raids on pro-Ouattara neighborhoods of Abidjan, the main city.

At least 13 men were killed at pro-Gbagbo militia checkpoints, according to the report. Witnesses said police and other security forces often stood by and did nothing, praised the killings or even shot at the victim's body.

HRW said the worst violence in Abidjan has been in the Abobo, Port-Bouet, Youpougon and Koumassi neighborhoods, which are all considered Ouattara strongholds.

The rights group quoted witnesses as saying, however, that pro-Ouattara marchers also burned to death a plainclothes police officer during a December 16 march after he shot dead at least two marchers and wounded others.

At least seven police were killed in an attack in Abobo that the Gbagbo government said was carried out by Ouattara supporters.

HRW called for greater international action to protect civilians. The United Nations has warned that attacks on civilians and peacekeepers in Ivory Coast will be treated as crimes under international law.

Giving an update on his involvement, ICC prosecutor Ocampo said: "My job is not political, it is making clear who is committing crimes."

Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN special representative on children and armed conflict, also warned of international action.

She said that if reports of child killings and the new recruitment of child soldiers were true, Ivory Coast could be put back on a UN "list of shame" for the treatment of children.

Article continues at link....

  :alarm:          children !!! 
enough of the warnings already.

 

[57Chevy]

African Union envoy warns of Ivory Coast war, calls for talks
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Ivory Coast's political rivals must be forced into direct talks to find a solution to a crisis that has brought the nation to the brink of a civil war, the African Union's mediator, Raila Odinga, told a meeting of the 53-nation bloc Friday.
"This summit must send a strong and unequivocal message that the two parties must negotiate face-to-face," the Kenyan premier told a special meeting on Ivory Coast ahead of a heads-of-state summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

"Given its (Ivory Coast's) long history of strife and civil war, and with the preparations for armed conflict under way on both sides, a small spark could ignite a major conflagration which would also threaten the regions stability."

November's presidential election was supposed to open a more positive chapter in Ivory Coast's history, eight years after a civil war split the nation into the mainly Muslim north and the Christian south.

article continues at link...
                              (Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act)

 

[57Chevy]

                        :UNAPC:
UN Delivers Aid to Ivorian Refugees in Liberia

The U.N. refugee agency has sent emergency aid to the growing number of refugees from Ivory Coast who have crossed into Liberia to escape unrest in their homeland.

The U.N. says a plane it chartered has landed in Liberia's capital, Monrovia, with an 83-ton aid shipment including blankets, plastic mats, kitchen sets, tarpaulins and cans for storing and transporting liquids.

An estimated 31,000 Ivorian refugees have arrived in Liberia since late November.  A U.N. supply officer Yohannes Hailu Guebre-Mariam says the latest flight - the second U.N. shipment in recent weeks - means the refugee agency has a stockpile large enough to support up to 50,000 refugees.

The U.N. says at least 260 people have been killed in Ivory Coast in violent clashes since the West African nation's disputed presidential election.

Laurent Gbagbo, who has ruled Ivory Coast as president for the past 10 years, insists he won the November election, but the United Nations, African Union and United States all recognize his rival Alassane Ouattara as the winner.

                                        (Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act)

 

[Edward Campbell]

Quote from: 57Chevy on 2011-01-06, 17:28:54

The United Nations has said it hopes to deploy up to 2,000 more peacekeepers.

That ought to do it.  ;D

If Congo, why not Côte d'Ivoire? That’s what France wants, according to this article, reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions (§29) of the Copyright Act from the Globe and Mail:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/africa-mideast/france-demands-un-help-civilians-as-ivory-coast-deaths-reach-462/article1954685/

France demands UN help civilians as Ivory Coast deaths reach 462

TIM COCKS
Abidjan— Reuters

Published Thursday, Mar. 24, 2011

France called on Thursday for the UN force in Ivory Coast to do more to stop violence, adding to growing pressure on the world body to take bolder action to halt the country’s slide into all-out civil war.

UN forces are protecting Alassane Ouattara, who won a Nov. 28 election according to UN-certified results.

They have accused the forces of incumbent Laurent Gbagbo, who has refused to step down, of using heavy weapons against civilians. Mr. Gbagbo’s camp has denied the charges.

The appeal from ex-colonial ruler France, which has troops in Ivory Coast but has ruled out intervening itself, follows growing complaints from inside and outside the country over inaction as the toll from the crisis mounts.

“There is a UN force on the ground. I think it should, without doubt, play its role more efficiently because it has a mandate that allows it to use force if there are clashes or there is violence,” French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told France 2 television. The remarks were reported on the website of French broadcaster RFI.

Mr. Ouattara has called for more to be done to protect civilians and Nigeria, current leader of West Africa’s ECOWAS bloc, is also seeking more decisive UN action.

A UN human rights officer said security forces loyal to Mr. Gbagbo were indiscriminately shelling neighbourhoods seen as pro-Ouattara, and had killed 50 people in past week, bringing the confirmed death toll from the conflict to 462. Another 450,000 people have fled their homes.

“(Gbagbo’s) special forces have been firing and launching explosives indiscriminately on part of the population suspected to be pro-Ouattara,” Guillaume N’Gefa, a UN human rights official based in Abidjan told a news conference on Thursday.

“We have registered ... from these indiscriminate attacks 50 deaths, including five children, and many dozens of wounded.”

The UN mission said earlier this week it was monitoring the use of heavy weapons and would take action within its mandate against any attempt to use them.

Mr. Gbagbo’s government has repeatedly denied allegations its forces have used heavy weapons against civilians, and accuses the UN mission of siding with “rebels” trying to oust him.

West African leaders were meeting in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Thursday to discuss the crisis. Nigeria has accused the international community of double standards for imposing a no-fly zone in Libya but doing little in Ivory Coast.

Mr. Ouattara has been recognized as Ivory Coast’s president by world leaders but Mr. Gbagbo, with the backing of much of the armed forces, has refused to stand down and accused the international community of interfering in a sovereign matter.

Mr. Gbagbo has denied accusations that his camp is responsible for most of the abuses, some of which rights groups say may constitute crimes against humanity.

UN resolutions typically have two parts:

1. The Considerings – the reasons why the UN has decided to “resolve” to do something; and
2. The Resolves – the decisions that either the General Assembly or, better, the UN Security Council, mades, based on the aforementioned Considerings.

Maybe we could, finally, have a honest resolution something like this:


The Security Council:

Considering that most of Africa is a poor, ill-governed cesspool led by kleptocrats and other assorted thugs who have destroyed their countries economies, raped (literally) their own people, massacred their own people and made all hope for the future a bad dream;

Considering further that the world is unwilling to accept the fact that two generations of home grown, black African leaders are 99.99% to blame for all of Africa’s problems; and

Recognizing that “colonialism” remains the favourite scapegoat to explain away Africa’s plight;

Resolves to do something “worthy” but totally ineffectual to “help” Africa even further;

Decides that America, Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain will deploy an appropriate number of combat brigades to Liberia, Congo, Zimbabwe, Côte d'Ivoire, Burundi, Libya, Angola, Western Sahara and other assorted cesspits to restore and maintain order and install stable, honest governments and then, far too quickly, withdraw; and

Remains seized with the issue but asleep at the switch.

 

[Danjanou]

You cannot put all the blame as to why Zimbabwe is no longer the breadbasket of Africa on political aspects.
Nor on UN measures that may have taken place, and less so if Canadian peacekeepers were in the region.
Zimbabwe was considered the breadbasket of Africa almost forever because of its rich soil.
There has been a massive drought in that country for some time now.

Actually yeah I think I will. Uncle Bob's policies have done more over the past 3 decades than Mother Nature ever did to the land between the Zambewi and Limpopo Rivers, However we're going off on a tangent here  and should get back to the Ivory Coast. Persoannly I'm with Mr Campbell, its a disaster we need no part of leave it to the PRC to deal with.

Mind depending how idiotic we the Canadian voter is in the next 2 months, I may be willing to bet "Be A Man Among Men" t-Shirt that some of those on here still serving will be dusting off the lil blue berets and heading over there to hand out teddy bears and gum drops and stern warnings. :

Tangent/rant ends.

 

[57Chevy]

shared in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act
The Telegraph 30 Mar 2011
'Invisible commandos' patrol Ivory Coast
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/cotedivoire/8414177/Invisible-commandos-patrol-Ivory-Coast.html

Abidjan gunmen calling themselves the "invisible commandos" oppose Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo - but say they do not necessarily want his rival in power either.

For nearly a month a shadowy group calling itself the "invisible commandos" has delivered a series of defeats on government forces after Gbagbo refused to concede power following election defeat in in November.

The international community recognises Gbagbo's rival Alassane Ouattara as the winner.

Gun battles and heavy weapons fire have rocked Abidjan, Ivory Coast's main city. According to the United Nations, hundreds have been killed by Gbagbo's forces, mostly civilians, and up to a million - a quarter of the city's population - have fled.

Gbagbo's camp says the commandos are pro-Ouattara "terrorists" trying to oust his legitimate government, while Ouattara's rival administration has sought to distance itself from the insurgents taking over parts of Abidjan.

Conflicting statements about who is in charge have surfaced, and the chief of the "invisible commando" movement General Coulibaly Ibrahim, also known as IB, is regarded as a rival to Ouattara's government.

"Since Gbagbo came to power, peace is slipping further and further away from us, that's why we are rising today, to fight against that," said a fighter calling himself Colonel Bauer who controls the "invisible commandos" in the district of Abobo in Abidjan.

The group has so far seized control of northern Abidjan and pushed into Gbagbo strongholds in the west as well as near the city centre.

 

[old medic]

Rebels besiege Ivory Coast's main city of Abidjan
The Associated Press
31 March 2011
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/World/20110331/ivory-coast-rebels-110331/

BIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Rebels fighting to install Ivory Coast's democratically elected president began besieging the main city of Abidjan on Thursday after seizing a key seaport overnight. The top military commander of the country's entrenched ruler fled to the residence of South Africa's ambassador.

However, an adviser to longtime president Laurent Gbagbo said he would not step down even in the face of a rebel onslaught on the country's commercial capital.

"He will not resign in the wake of this attack. He is not going to abdicate. He is not going to lay down his arms," said Toussaint Alain, an adviser to Gbagbo in Europe. "He will stay in power to lead the resistance to this attack against Ivory Coast organized by France, the United States and the United Nations."

United Nations radio announced that the port of San Pedro, 300 kilometres west of Abidjan, was taken by rebels late Wednesday. Residents said by telephone that soldiers retreated in trucks while firing into the air as the rebels moved in.

Rebels also took Gbagbo's hometown, the village of Mama, where the former president had built a lavish villa, said a close aide to internationally recognized leader Alassane Ouattara.

"The rebels slept in Gbagbo's bed," said the aide, who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the press.

In Abidjan, rebels already in control of several northern districts of the city attacked a prison and freed the inmates, a rebel commander said.

The rebels who support Ouattara also advanced into Yopougon, a district of Abidjan that fervently supports Gbagbo, witnesses said.

The rebel army is on the periphery of Abidjan, said the close aide to Ouattara, who was recognized by governments around the world as the country's legitimate president after winning last November's presidential election.

"They will enter the city on multiple fronts, from multiple directions," said the adviser.

Ivory Coast's army chief of staff, Gen. Phillippe Mangou, sought refuge at the home of the South African ambassador in Abidjan with his wife and five children, South Africa's foreign ministry said Thursday.

Advancing on foot while firing into the air, the rebels set up roadblocks on one of Yopougon's main thoroughfares and have been battling with police since early Thursday morning, said a local resident who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals.

Across town in the predominantly pro-Ouattara Adjame district, several residents reported that pro-Gbagbo militiamen were firing weapons, though it was unclear at what.

The rebels have seized over a dozen towns since beginning their offensive on Monday, and the fall of the cocoa-exporting port of San Pedro came hours after they took the capital, Yamoussoukro. There, they did a victory lap in vehicles as people cheered and clapped.

They have faced almost no resistance but many fear that army troops still loyal to Gbagbo plan to make a final stand in Abidjan, the country's economic hub and where the presidential palace is located. ...........

 

[old medic]

Illegitimate leader of Ivory Coast poised to fall
The New York Times
31 March 2011
copy at: http://www.thespec.com/news/world/article/510442--illegitimate-leader-of-ivory-coast-poised-to-fall

DAKAR, SENEGAL The end of Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo’s rule appeared to be nearing Thursday as his rival’s troops approached the country’s main city of Abidjan, his own army chief of staff abandoned his post and his opponents claimed substantial defections of his troops and police officers.

After steadfastly refusing to leave the presidential palace despite losing an election four months ago – a refusal that has led to hundreds of deaths, international condemnation and sanctions, the financial collapse of what had been West Africa’s economic star and the country being plunged back into civil war – Gbagbo faced the gravest threat yet to his rule.

With troops bearing down, top officials of Alassane Ouattara, the man recognized by the United Nations, the African Union and other international bodies as the winner of the election in November, gave him a tight deadline to give up.

In towns across the country, Gbagbo’s feared security services and soldiers, who for four months have been the violent scourge of civilians in Ouattara-supporting neighborhoods, appeared to surrender with barely a shot, leaving the path open for a rapid advance all week by forces loyal to Ouattara.

“Today they are at the doors of Abidjan,” Ouattara said in a televised speech Thursday, appealing to Gbagbo’s forces to switch sides. “Put yourselves at the disposition of your country” and “regain your legal status,” he urged, speaking in the formal, measured language for which Ouattara, a former prime minister and International Monetary Fund official, is known.............

 

[old medic]

Ivory Coast capital turns into war zone

Gbagbo's surrender 'out of the question' as heavy weapons boom throughout Abidjan

By LOUCOUMANE COULIBALY and ANGE ABOA, Reuters
02 April 2011
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Ivory+Coast+capital+turns+into+zone/4547625/story.html

Fierce fighting spread across Abidjan on Friday as troops loyal to Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo fended off attacks by forces supporting Alassane Ouattara's rival claim to the presidency.

The heaviest clashes centred around the state television station, which went off the air after it was attacked by pro-Ouattara forces overnight.

The boom of heavy weapons fire rang out constantly from near Gbagbo's residence and presidential palace, both of which have come under attack, as well as two major military bases - turning Ivory Coast's main city into a war zone.

"We can hear shooting and see soldiers moving but there are also armed civilians running in the streets," said Camara Arnold, a resident of Cocody, the neighbourhood home to the state television building and Gbagbo's residence.

Two white MI-24 attack helicopters belonging to the United Nations peacekeeping mission circled above central Abidjan's palmfringed lagoon, but did not intervene.

Gbagbo, who has refused to quit after a Nov. 28 election that UN-certified results showed he lost, has been hit by a number of high-level defections in the army. The African Union, former colonial ruler France, and UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon called on him to step down.

But in the commercial capital, loyalists have dug in, and a Paris-based Gbagbo adviser said the incumbent's surrender was "out of the question."

Forces supporting Ouattara, who has been recognized as winner of the November election by African nations and Western powers, marched into Abidjan Thursday after a swift push south that initially met with little resistance.

But they now face Gbagbo's most reliable fighters, the roughly 2,500-strong elite Republican Guard, clustered in Abidjan along with remaining regular army troops.........

 

[old medic]

French fire on Abidjan camps: army spokesman
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-rt-international-us-ivtre7334qq-20110404,0,746098.story

PARIS (Reuters) - French helicopters opened fire on a military camp in Abidjan on Monday, French armed forces spokesman Thierry Burkhard said.

Earlier, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he had authorized France's military to join a U.N. operation against forces loyal to Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau)

U.N., French troops strike military bases in Ivory Coast
The troops launch airstrikes on military bases in Abidjan loyal to incumbent Laurent Gbagbo after attacks on the U.N. compound and forces.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-ivory-coast-fighting-20110405,0,43729.story

By Robyn Dixon, Los Angeles Times

April 5, 2011
Reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa—

United Nations and French military helicopters in Ivory Coast attacked two military bases in Abidjan, along with the presidential palace and residence, undercutting Laurent Gbagbo's desperate fight to retain power after an election the international community says he lost.

The attacks came as forces loyal to Gbagbo's rival, Alassane Ouattara, announced a big "final push" to drive him from office, with fighters gathering at the edge of Abidjan, the nation's sprawling commercial capital.

About 4 million people remain in the city, many of them trapped by combat. An additional 1 million have fled, according to the U.N., and thousands have been killed in the fighting, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

The U.N. and French strikes against the military bases loyal to Gbagbo, the first in Ivory Coast's crisis, were intended to destroy heavy weapons that were being used in attacks on civilians and the world body's peacekeeping mission, U.N. officials said.

The U.N. said the Agban and Akouedo bases were attacked, as well as the presidential palace and residence, in line with the U.N.'s mandate to protect civilians and its own peacekeeping troops.

Gbagbo is so isolated internationally that what would have been unthinkable even a month ago — attacking U.N. peacekeepers — now appears to be part of his last-ditch effort to hold on to power. Gbagbo ordered U.N. personnel to leave Ivory Coast last year after the world body recognized Ouattara as the legitimate winner of November elections, but the U.N. did not accept Gbagbo's authority to do so.

The U.N. compound in Abidjan has come under attack in recent days, as have U.N convoys. Gbagbo's state television, RTI, has for weeks broadcast statements accusing the world body of genocide.

Ouattara's forces launched an offensive last week to force Gbagbo from power. They seized much of the country in a few days, but met fierce resistance from Gbagbo's loyalists in the heart of Abidjan.

The U.N. requested the help of French peacekeeping troops in the attacks Monday evening. The French government has reinforced its contingent by several hundred to about 1,650 troops in recent days.

Gbagbo's spokesman in Paris, Toussaint Alain, told Agence France-Presse on Monday that the U.N and French attacks were illegal and amounted to war crimes. The attacks led to an assassination bid against Gbagbo, he said.

Journalists and civilians also have come under fire in recent days. The French government announced Monday that armed men had invaded the Novotel, the hotel in Abidjan where many journalists have based themselves, and abducted several people including two French nationals.

In recent days French journalists traveling in a convoy outside Abidjan were shot at by militias.

 

[sean m]

"The next Rwanda? ‘In all districts of Abidjan there is gunfire’

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/world-news/the-next-rwanda-in-all-districts-of-abidjan-there-is-gunfire-1.1094251

 

[old medic]

Ivory Coast: Presidential residence 'taken' in Abidjan
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12967610

05 April 2011

Forces loyal to Ivory Coast's UN-recognised president say they have captured the besieged incumbent's residence in the main city of Abidjan.

Alassane Ouattara's spokesman said his troops had overrun the home of Laurent Gbagbo, who refuses to step down though his whereabouts are unclear.

Heavy weapons fire rocked the city early on Tuesday.

Hours earlier, UN and French helicopters attacked targets around the presidential residence.

Mr Ouattara's representative in Paris, Ali Coulibaly, told French media that Mr Gbagbo was now negotiating his surrender.
'War of psychology'

Mr Gbagbo has refused to leave office even though the Ivorian election commission declared him the loser of November's run-off vote, and the UN certified the result.

The BBC's Andrew Harding, near Abidjan, says it looks like endgame for the incumbent president.

But he says the fighting has reached a new level of ferocity and there are reports pro-Gbagbo forces have seized two bridges in the city, which would suggest the battle is not all one way.

Forces loyal to Mr Ouattara, a former International Monetary Fund economist, began a dramatic military offensive last week, sweeping in from the north and west.

About four million civilians have been trapped by days of fighting and looting in Abidjan.

There is no confirmation of reports that pro-Ouattara forces have taken Mr Gbagbo's compound.

"The residence is on many levels," Patrick Achi, a spokesman for Mr Ouattara, told the BBC.

"People have seen that Gbagbo was in the residence, but they are still looking for him."

Asked what would happen if Mr Gbagbo was captured, he said he would be arrested and "brought to justice".

Mr Gbagbo's spokesman later told AFP news agency that Mr Gbagbo had not reached the point of surrender.

The incumbent president was "surprised" by the attacks, as he was still open to dialogue, his spokesman said......

 

[old medic]

Gbagbo cornered as battles rock Ivory Coast city
http://www.afp.com
05 April 2011

ABIDJAN (AFP) - Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo was cornered and facing an end to 10 years in power Tuesday as forces for widely recognised president Alassane Ouattara pursued a military offensive to unseat him.

After doggedly refusing to accept he lost November elections, Gbagbo was reportedly negotiating his exit under fire from fighters for Ouattara who said they had launched their "final assault" after diplomacy had failed.

Heavy weapons fire shook the main city Abidjan on the second day of the all-out offensive with Gbagbo strongholds surrounded and a fight under way for control of the city's gendarmerie camp in Cocody district, residents said............

Ouattara forces hope to capture embattled Ivory Coast leader
By the CNN Wire Staff
05 April 2011

(CNN) -- Fighters surrounded the presidential palace of Laurent Gbagbo on Tuesday, hoping to capture the embattled leader.

The fighters,loyal to President Alassane Ouattara, were 80% sure that Gbagbo was still in the residence, said Patrick Achi, a spokesman for Ouattara.

"We do not see why he shall not surrender," Achi said Monday, adding the new government may seek to have Gbagbo tried by the International Court of Justice.

CNN could not independently confirm Achi's claims, which include a report that Gbagbo's TV station was destroyed.

But at least one resident in Abidjan said Gbagbo's state TV station had been dark since Monday; early Tuesday, nothing was broadcast from the station.

The man, who did not want to use his name, said gunfire played throughout the town like a soundtrack Monday, leaving many feeling unsafe and scared.

Uncertainty and fear have been constant in parts of the Ivory Coast in recent weeks as a presidential stalemate has spiraled into a civil war........

 

[old medic]

Ivory Coast: Besieged Gbagbo 'in basement' of residence

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12967610

Ivory Coast's defiant President Laurent Gbagbo is sheltering with his family in the basement of his surrounded Abidjan residence, a senior military source has told the BBC.

Troops loyal to Mr Gbagbo's rival, UN-recognised President Alassane Ouattara, say they have surrounded the compound.

Pro-Ouattara forces said earlier they had already overrun the residence in the West African country's main city.

UN and French helicopters attacked targets around the compound on Monday.

Mr Gbagbo has refused to leave office even though the Ivorian election commission declared him the loser of November's run-off vote, and the UN certified the result.

The BBC's Andrew Harding has spoken to a senior military source on the western edge of Abidjan, where hundreds of pro-Ouattara troops are gathered.

The source told our correspondent they had completely surrounded the presidential residence and that Mr Gbagbo and his family were in the bunker. The claim is unconfirmed.....

 

[old medic]

Ivory Coast: Laurent Gbagbo 'negotiating surrender'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12975539

The UN says three generals loyal to Ivory Coast's besieged President Laurent Gbagbo are negotiating terms for surrender in return for guarantees of safety for him and themselves.

France says negotiators are on the brink of agreeing his departure.

Mr Gbagbo is sheltering with his family in the basement bunker of his residence in the main city, Abidjan.

Troops loyal to Mr Gbagbo's rival, UN-recognised President Alassane Ouattara, say they have surrounded the compound.

The UN says Mr Gbagbo's military and civilian advisers are leaving him.

Three of his generals - the head of the armed forces, the head of the police and the head of the republican guard - have opened negotiations, the UN told the BBC's Andrew Harding, who is on the outskirts of Abidjan.
'War is over'

"We are very close to convincing him to leave power," French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told the National Assembly in Paris.

Mr Gbagbo's spokesman, Ahoua Don Mello, told the Reuters news agency there were "direct negotiations based on African Union recommendations which said Alassane Ouattara is president".

"They are also negotiating judicial and security conditions for Gbagbo's camp and his relatives," Mr Don Mello said.

The deputy commander of the pro-Ouattara forces, Cisse Sindou, told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme: "We won the battle. Gbagbo is with the French. He is negotiating how to leave the country."....................

 

[old medic]

Ouattara forces 'storming Gbagbo's bunker'

Last updated 13 minutes ago
Live Heavy gunfire heard in Abidjan as Ivory Coast's defiant ex-president remains holed up

http://www.guardian.co.uk/
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12985638

...........Two days of heavy fighting stopped late on Tuesday and negotiations with Mr Gbagbo carried on throughout the night.

But by Wednesday morning it appeared the patience of pro-Ouattara forces had run out.

"We are going to get Laurent Gbagbo out of his hole and hand him over to the president of the Republic," said Sidiki Konate, spokesman of Mr Ouattara's prime minister, Guillaume Soro.
'In the building'

Affousy Bamba, a spokeswoman for troops backing Mr Ouattara, told Reuters news agency: "Yes they [Ouattara forces] are in the process of entering the residence to seize Gbagbo.

"They have not taken him yet, but they are in the process, they are in the building."..........