ABIDJAN – Fears of renewed fighting in Ivory Coast grew yesterday following a threat from west African neighbours to force out incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo if he does not soon heed international calls to step down.
West African leaders are giving Mr Gbagbo an ultimatum this week to step aside, though he has shown no interest in doing so since the demand was made on Friday.
While doubts exist over whether the region could carry out such a military operation, followers of political rival Alassane Ouattara remain confident help will soon come.
“It’s not a bluff,” one senior Ouattara adviser said. “The soldiers are coming much faster than anyone thinks.” Residents remain fearful of the violence such an intervention could unleash, however. Dozens of people gathered outside the Nigerian embassy in the capital Abidjan yesterday, holding signs reading: “We don’t want a military intervention” and “Let Ivorians solve Ivorian problems”. Nigeria has the strongest army in the region and would be expected to play a major role if an operation to oust Mr Gbagbo were launched.
Elsewhere in Abidjan, dozens of women gathered to pray for peace after weeks of violence that have left at least 173 people dead, the UN said. The toll is believed to be much higher, as the UN said it has been unable to investigate reports of a mass grave because of restrictions on UN staff movements.
“We are not politicians; we have had sleepless nights. We are stressed – that’s why we have come here to cry to God,” said Edith Esther, an Abidjan resident.
The UN declared Mr Ouattara won the presidential run-off vote held nearly one month ago, but Mr Gbagbo refuses to concede defeat and leave despite admonitions from the UN, US, EU and the African Union.
The west African regional bloc Ecowas is sending a high-level delegation to Abidjan this week to meet Mr Gbagbo as “an ultimate gesture”. The presidents of Sierra Leone, Cape Verde, Benin and of Ecowas itself will travel to Ivory Coast today, said Ibrahim Ben Kargbo, Sierra Leone’s information and communication minister.
Mr Ouattara’s supporters called for a general strike to step up pressure, but shops were open and it was business as usual in central Abidjan, though the pro-Ouattara districts began shutting down in the early afternoon. Bouake, the rebel capital, was a ghost town, while Gagnoa, a Gbagbo-stronghold, was open for business.
Mr Gbagbo said on Sunday he was not concerned with world opinion, insisting he was duly elected. He said of his detractors: “Maybe they do not want me, I admit it, but I am not looking to be loved by them. I respect and abide by the Ivorians’ vote.” Human rights groups have expressed alarm about hundreds of arrests and dozens of cases of torture and disappearance since the vote they are blaming on security forces associated with Mr Gbagbo.
Mr Gbagbo has been in power since 2000 and had already overstayed his mandate by five years when the long-delayed presidential election was finally held in October. The vote was intended to help reunify the country, which was divided by the 2002-2003 civil war into a rebel-controlled north and a loyalist south.– (AP)