UN PEACEKEEPERS yesterday surrounded the last line of soldiers defending Ivory Coast’s beleaguered president, Laurent Gbagbo, who remained holed up in a bunker at his residence in Abidjan, the French defence minister said.
Gérard Longuet said the situation in Ivory Coast’s economic capital was “extraordinarily difficult”, with several hundred Gbagbo loyalists repelling the larger and better-armed forces of president-elected Alassane Ouattara. “We are in a situation of extreme tension where, hour by hour, the situation can change,” Mr Longuet told the French Senate.
The net appeared to be closing on Mr Gbagbo, however, with the UN force taking control of the two key bridges linking the north and south of the city, whose inhabitants have been confined to their homes during more than a week of fighting and looting.
A UN spokesman in Abidjan said it had sent its forces into the Cocody neighbourhood, where the Gbagbo residence is located, but did not plan to intervene.
Earlier, French forces struck military vehicles belonging to troops loyal to Mr Gbagbo during a helicopter-borne mission that rescued Japan’s ambassador.
The French went in overnight after Mr Gbagbo’s soldiers broke into the Japanese residence, where ambassador Yoshifumi Okamura and seven staff had sheltered inside a safe room, a French armed forces spokesman said.
French soldiers, who have joined helicopter raids to destroy Mr Gbagbo’s heavy weapons, also struck two pick-up trucks belonging to armed assailants who tried to break into the French ambassador’s residence, next door to Mr Gbagbo’s compound.
Sporadic gunfire was reported coming from Mr Gbagbo’s residence yesterday and Mr Longuet estimated that the besieged president still had about 1,000 men, 200 of whom were in his residential compound. They included his Republican Guard and youth militias, who repelled an assault by Mr Ouattara’s forces on Wednesday.
French and US officials said requests for help had been received from diplomats and up to 20 journalists stranded in the area. Mr Longuet said France’s deployment of 1,700 troops would attempt to come to their aid. Some 2,400 foreigners – one-third French, one-third Lebanese and other nationalities – were already under French protection at the military camp of Port-Bouët in southern Abidjan yesterday.
French foreign minister Alain Juppé said Mr Gbagbo’s fall was “inevitable”, but dismissed reports from Mr Ouattara’s camp that talks were still ongoing with Mr Gbagbo, who has resisted international pressure to step down since losing an election last November.
“This has been going on for four months . . . we have given plenty of time to mediation efforts,” Mr Juppé said.
Mr Gbagbo said on Wednesday he had no intention of stepping down.
With much of Abidjan too dangerous for civilians to venture outside, aid agencies have warned of a grave humanitarian situation for many of the city’s four million inhabitants. They report that hospitals are overwhelmed with wounded, medical supplies are lacking and doctors and nurses sometimes have to work without running water and electricity.