News / Africa
Africans threaten Ivory Coast invasion
28 Dec 2010 at 03:51hrs | Views
West African heads of state have warned they will use force to oust
incumbent Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo unless he cedes power to a
rival widely credited with having won a presidential election.
On Tuesday, three West African presidents will visit Abidjan in a bid to convince the defiant 65-year-old leader to step down, a last-ditch plea that comes backed by a threat of military intervention.
But Gbagbo, who claims to have won last month's presidential election, is in no mood to stand aside for his long-time rival Alassane Ouattara, who has been recognised as the victor by UN vote monitors and world powers.
A violent stand-off over the result of the vote has already killed nearly 200 people and threatens to tip the west African state back into civil war.
After a meeting in Nigeria to discuss the Ivory Coast crisis, leaders of the regional bloc Ecowas said Gbagbo, who has been president for a decade, must step down or face "legitimate force".
World powers and African states have heaped political and financial pressure on Gbagbo to relinquish power after the November 28 vote in which electoral commission results showed he lost to rival Alassane Ouattara.
"In the event that Mr Gbagbo fails to yield this imputable demand of Ecowas (to stand down), the community will be left with no choice but to take other measures, including legitimate force," a communique released by Ecowas said.
The bloc also said it would convene a meeting of member states' defence chiefs of staff to plan for potential action, should Gbagbo not bow out.
The United States and European Union have imposed travel sanctions on Gbagbo and his inner circle, while the World Bank and the West African central bank have cut off his funding in an attempt to pressure him to step down.
But Gbagbo has shown no sign of caving in. He insists he won the election after the Constitutional Court, which is headed by one of his allies, threw out hundreds of thousands of votes from pro-Ouattara constituencies.
The regime's spokesman Ahoua Don Mello branded the West African move a "Western plot directed by France" and warned that military action could put millions of regional immigrants in Ivory Coast in danger.
"The people of Ivory Coast will mobilise. This boosts our patriotism. This strengthens our faith in Ivorian nationalism," said Don Mello, who serves as minister for infrastructure and sanitation in Gbabgo's government.
"We're always open to dialogue, but within strict respect of the laws and regulations of the Republic of Ivory Coast," he said. Gbagbo's camp regards him as the lawful and duly-elected president on the country.
Gbagbo's spokesman said he did "not believe at all" that it would come to a fight, in particular because there are millions of West African immigrants who work in Ivory Coast's relatively prosperous cocoa-led economy.
"Ivory Coast is a country of immigration," he said. "All these countries have citizens in Ivory Coast, and they know if they attack Ivory Coast from the exterior it would become an interior civil war," he warned.
"Is Burkina Faso ready to welcome three million Burkinabe migrants back in their country of origin?" he demanded, in what some observers saw as a tacit threat that immigrant workers could be targeted in reprisal.
The standoff turned violent last week after brief gun battles between government soldiers loyal to Gbagbo and rebels who now back Ouattara.
The UN Human Rights Council issued a declaration, initiated by African member states, condemning rights violations in Ivory Coast and called for reconciliation to avert civil war. The impasse between Gbagbo and Ouattara has caused the deaths of more than 170 people, according to the council.
Gbagbo also faces a cash crunch that could make it hard for him to continue paying the wages of soldiers who back him, after the West African regional central bank cut his access to funds.
Ministers from the Central Bank of the West African Economic and Monetary Union said on Thursday that the bank would no longer recognise Gbagbo's authority, and that access to funds would only be given to Ouattara's "legitimate government".
Ahoua Don Mello, spokesman for Gbagbo's government, said on state television on Friday that the decision to recognise Ouattara's authority was illegal and could have severe consequences for the monetary union.
On Wednesday, the World Bank decided to freeze some US$800 million in committed financing, strengthening expectations that Gbagbo may soon struggle to pay wages ' including to troops.
Military support for Gbagbo is regarded as one of the main reasons he has been able to defy calls to step down.
Charles Ble Goude, leader of the powerful pro-Gbagbo "Young Patriots" movement, said earlier on Friday that sending in a military intervention force could rekindle war in Ivory Coast, which is still partitioned from a 2002-03 civil conflict.
"In a union such as Ecowas, when one country is in difficulties, you don't come and start a war in that country, but try to help find a solution. I don't know what would be the objective of an intervention force. Kill Ivorians?" Ble Goude said in an interview on RFI radio.
In New York, the U.N. General Assembly recognised Ouattara by unanimously deciding that the list of diplomats he submitted to the world body be recognised as the sole official representatives of Ivory Coast.
That appeared to bolster Ouattara's claim to be the legitimate leader of Ivory Coast and deepened the isolation of Gbagbo, U.N. diplomats told Reuters.
The United States, United Nations, European Union, African Union and Ecowas have all recognised the provisional electoral commission results showing Ouattara as the winner. Washington and Brussels have imposed sanctions on Gbagbo and his coterie.
Deteriorating security in the former French colony led France this week to urge its 13 000 citizens there to leave.
The Dutch Defence Ministry said on Friday it was sending a warship to Ivory Coast that could be used to help evacuate European expatriates if violence escalates.
Despite a decade of crisis, Ivory Coast remains a significant economy. It exports more than a third of the world's supply of cocoa, has a small but promising oil production sector and operates two major ports.
Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said 14 000 Ivorians have fled to neighbouring Liberia amid the post-election violence.
"With their numbers growing, the humanitarian needs are increasing for the mostly women and children refugees as well as for the villagers hosting them," UNHCR said, appealing for aid.
"UNHCR has already provisionally pre-positioned supplies to assist up to 30 000 refugees in the region," it added.
Gbagbo's forces remain firmly in charge in Abidjan, where they have been accused of carrying out scores of killings in pro-Ouattara areas.
Ouattara's shadow government is under siege in an Abidjan resort, protected by 800 UN peacekeepers, but unable to move beyond the grounds of the Golf Hotel nor take charge of the levers of state power.
On Tuesday, three West African presidents will visit Abidjan in a bid to convince the defiant 65-year-old leader to step down, a last-ditch plea that comes backed by a threat of military intervention.
But Gbagbo, who claims to have won last month's presidential election, is in no mood to stand aside for his long-time rival Alassane Ouattara, who has been recognised as the victor by UN vote monitors and world powers.
A violent stand-off over the result of the vote has already killed nearly 200 people and threatens to tip the west African state back into civil war.
After a meeting in Nigeria to discuss the Ivory Coast crisis, leaders of the regional bloc Ecowas said Gbagbo, who has been president for a decade, must step down or face "legitimate force".
World powers and African states have heaped political and financial pressure on Gbagbo to relinquish power after the November 28 vote in which electoral commission results showed he lost to rival Alassane Ouattara.
"In the event that Mr Gbagbo fails to yield this imputable demand of Ecowas (to stand down), the community will be left with no choice but to take other measures, including legitimate force," a communique released by Ecowas said.
The bloc also said it would convene a meeting of member states' defence chiefs of staff to plan for potential action, should Gbagbo not bow out.
The United States and European Union have imposed travel sanctions on Gbagbo and his inner circle, while the World Bank and the West African central bank have cut off his funding in an attempt to pressure him to step down.
But Gbagbo has shown no sign of caving in. He insists he won the election after the Constitutional Court, which is headed by one of his allies, threw out hundreds of thousands of votes from pro-Ouattara constituencies.
The regime's spokesman Ahoua Don Mello branded the West African move a "Western plot directed by France" and warned that military action could put millions of regional immigrants in Ivory Coast in danger.
"The people of Ivory Coast will mobilise. This boosts our patriotism. This strengthens our faith in Ivorian nationalism," said Don Mello, who serves as minister for infrastructure and sanitation in Gbabgo's government.
"We're always open to dialogue, but within strict respect of the laws and regulations of the Republic of Ivory Coast," he said. Gbagbo's camp regards him as the lawful and duly-elected president on the country.
Gbagbo's spokesman said he did "not believe at all" that it would come to a fight, in particular because there are millions of West African immigrants who work in Ivory Coast's relatively prosperous cocoa-led economy.
"Ivory Coast is a country of immigration," he said. "All these countries have citizens in Ivory Coast, and they know if they attack Ivory Coast from the exterior it would become an interior civil war," he warned.
"Is Burkina Faso ready to welcome three million Burkinabe migrants back in their country of origin?" he demanded, in what some observers saw as a tacit threat that immigrant workers could be targeted in reprisal.
The standoff turned violent last week after brief gun battles between government soldiers loyal to Gbagbo and rebels who now back Ouattara.
The UN Human Rights Council issued a declaration, initiated by African member states, condemning rights violations in Ivory Coast and called for reconciliation to avert civil war. The impasse between Gbagbo and Ouattara has caused the deaths of more than 170 people, according to the council.
Gbagbo also faces a cash crunch that could make it hard for him to continue paying the wages of soldiers who back him, after the West African regional central bank cut his access to funds.
Ministers from the Central Bank of the West African Economic and Monetary Union said on Thursday that the bank would no longer recognise Gbagbo's authority, and that access to funds would only be given to Ouattara's "legitimate government".
Ahoua Don Mello, spokesman for Gbagbo's government, said on state television on Friday that the decision to recognise Ouattara's authority was illegal and could have severe consequences for the monetary union.
On Wednesday, the World Bank decided to freeze some US$800 million in committed financing, strengthening expectations that Gbagbo may soon struggle to pay wages ' including to troops.
Military support for Gbagbo is regarded as one of the main reasons he has been able to defy calls to step down.
Charles Ble Goude, leader of the powerful pro-Gbagbo "Young Patriots" movement, said earlier on Friday that sending in a military intervention force could rekindle war in Ivory Coast, which is still partitioned from a 2002-03 civil conflict.
"In a union such as Ecowas, when one country is in difficulties, you don't come and start a war in that country, but try to help find a solution. I don't know what would be the objective of an intervention force. Kill Ivorians?" Ble Goude said in an interview on RFI radio.
In New York, the U.N. General Assembly recognised Ouattara by unanimously deciding that the list of diplomats he submitted to the world body be recognised as the sole official representatives of Ivory Coast.
That appeared to bolster Ouattara's claim to be the legitimate leader of Ivory Coast and deepened the isolation of Gbagbo, U.N. diplomats told Reuters.
The United States, United Nations, European Union, African Union and Ecowas have all recognised the provisional electoral commission results showing Ouattara as the winner. Washington and Brussels have imposed sanctions on Gbagbo and his coterie.
Deteriorating security in the former French colony led France this week to urge its 13 000 citizens there to leave.
The Dutch Defence Ministry said on Friday it was sending a warship to Ivory Coast that could be used to help evacuate European expatriates if violence escalates.
Despite a decade of crisis, Ivory Coast remains a significant economy. It exports more than a third of the world's supply of cocoa, has a small but promising oil production sector and operates two major ports.
Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said 14 000 Ivorians have fled to neighbouring Liberia amid the post-election violence.
"With their numbers growing, the humanitarian needs are increasing for the mostly women and children refugees as well as for the villagers hosting them," UNHCR said, appealing for aid.
"UNHCR has already provisionally pre-positioned supplies to assist up to 30 000 refugees in the region," it added.
Gbagbo's forces remain firmly in charge in Abidjan, where they have been accused of carrying out scores of killings in pro-Ouattara areas.
Ouattara's shadow government is under siege in an Abidjan resort, protected by 800 UN peacekeepers, but unable to move beyond the grounds of the Golf Hotel nor take charge of the levers of state power.
Source - Byo24 Africa Correspondent
