Ivory Coast: Gbagbo's envoy in Zimbabwe

The heavily disputed Ivorian President, Laurent Gbagbo sent Thursday his envoy to Zimbabwe to mobilise continental support ahead of an African union summit later this month.

Gbagbo is under growing pressure to hand over power to his rival and presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara.

The envoy met with Zimbabwe's acting President John Nkomo in Harare.

Independent journalists were barred from entering the building by intelligence personnel. They guarded the entrance and insisted that the journalists were never invited to cover the visit. Only the state media was allowed to do that.

Nkomo met the envoy together with acting foreign affairs minister Hebert Murerwa who could not be reached to comment on the highly suggestive visit.
Sources said presidential spokesperson George Charamba later told journalists that the envoy, identified as Zog Abie, Ivorian ambassador to South Africa, had come to brief the Zimbabwean president on the political situation in his country. He flew out of Harare soon after meeting Nkomo.

Gbabgo, who has ruled the world's biggest cocoa producer for nearly a decade, was defeated in the November 28 elections by Alassane Ouattara. The latter set up his own parallel government while claiming he won the hotly disputed poll.

Like the aging Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe, Gbabgo has the full backing of his country's military, and has refused to hand over power to Ouattara.

He has braved fierce world pressure, including the regional organ ECOWAS that has threatened to use force to remove him. Just like Mugabe, Gbabgo has likened his situation to that of Mugabe, who also claims western governments want him out of power at all costs.

Gbagbo last month defended the Zimbabwean leader, who in 2008 refused to hand over power to former opposition leader and now Prime Minister in the unity government, Morgan Tsvangirai.

"When you go through what I've been through, you tell yourself: Perhaps Mugabe wasn't completely wrong after all," he said.