Ivory Coast: Ouattara forces storm Gbagbo residence Skip to main content

Ivory Coast: Ouattara forces storm Gbagbo residence

Troops loyal to Alassane Ouattara set up a checkpoint in Abidjan, 6 April 2011 Troops loyal to Alassance Ouattara have been told not to kill Laurent Gbagbo
Forces opposed to Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo have launched a final assault on his presidential residence.
He has been negotiating departure terms with the UN while under siege by troops loyal to his rival Alassane Ouattara.
But France's foreign minister said talks had failed, blaming Mr Gbagbo. Gunfire and fighting have been heard at Mr Gbagbo's residence in Abidjan.
Mr Gbagbo insists he won November's run-off vote, but election officials found Mr Ouattara was the winner.
That result was certified by the UN, but Mr Gbagbo has refused to leave office.
Mr Gbagbo and his family are believed to be sheltering in the bunker of the presidential residence, which was controlled by his troops.
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.
Supporters of Laurent Gbagbo in detention at the Golf Hotel, Abidjan (6 April 2011) Some of Mr Gbagbo's supporters have been rounded up by Ouattara's forces
"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 Paris, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Mr Gbagbo's "intransigence" had caused talks to fail.
"The conditions set by President Ouattara are very clear: he demands that Laurent Gbagbo accepts his defeat and recognises the victory of the legitimately elected president," he told parliament.
"That's where we stand today, so sadly the arms have begun to talk again."
French and UN troops are attempting to maintain security around Abidjan under the terms of a UN Security Council resolution, but Mr Juppe said they were not involved in the offensive against Mr Gbagbo.
'In the building'

At the scene

Laurent Gbagbo, cornered in a presidential bunker and faced with the defection of his generals, had been trying to negotiate his way out of trouble.
His surrender seemed imminent. "I want to live," he told French television.
But over the past few hours we have heard the boom of heavy artillery in the city and confirmation that Mr Gbagbo's residence is being stormed.
A negotiated ending might have helped ease tensions in this bitterly divided country. Now there is the risk of greater instability.
Civilians still trapped in Abidjan say there has been sporadic gunfire across the city with pro-Gbagbo militias still on the streets and growing fears of revenge killings.
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."
A resident who lives close to Mr Gbagbo's residence told Reuters of fighting and explosions.
"We can hear automatic gunfire and also the thud of heavy weapons. There's shooting all over the place," Alfred Kouassi said.
A spokesman for Mr Ouattara said fighters had been given strict instructions not to harm Mr Gbagbo.
The BBC's Andrew Harding near Abidjan says the UN wants Mr Gbagbo to leave unharmed in order not to destabilise the country further. Mr Gbagbo still has strong support, having won 46% of the vote in the election, he adds.
Speaking by phone to French radio, Mr Gbagbo - sounding defiant - denied he was hiding in a bunker.
"I am in the residence - the residence of the president of the republic. Now, when it rains, can't one take shelter inside one's house?"
Mr Gbagbo had earlier denied he was surrendering, saying he was only negotiating a truce.
"I won the election and I'm not negotiating my departure," he said.
The BBC's John James, who is outside Abidjan, says it feels like it is the "endgame" for Mr Gbagbo. But the ideal situation would be a deal that would allow economic activity to resume and for the people of Ivory Coast to resume some sort of normal life, he adds.
On Monday pro-Ouattara fighters, backed by UN and French helicopters attacked Mr Gbagbo's military installations in Abidjan, saying they aimed to protect civilians.

Ivorian turmoil

  • 28 November: Incumbent Laurent Gbagbo and challenger Alassane Ouattara in election run-off
  • 2 December: Electoral commission announces that Ouattara has won
  • 3 December: Constitutional Council declaring Gbagbo the winner; UN says Ouattara was victor
  • 30 March: Pro-Ouattara forces enter the capital, Yamoussoukro
  • 4 April: UN launches air strikes on Gbagbo in main city, Abidjan
  • 5 April: Three generals negotiate Gbagbo's surrender
Following Tuesday's ceasefire the city passed a largely quiet night, apart from shootings blamed on gangs, but its population of four million remained indoors.
Civilians told the BBC they were very scared. Small groups have been walking out of the city with their hands raised in the air.
In other developments, the EU imposed fresh sanctions on Mr Gbagbo on Wednesday, banning the purchase of bonds from his "illegitimate government".
Last November's election was intended to reunite Ivory Coast which split in two following a northern rebellion in 2002.
The electoral commission pronounced Mr Ouattara the victor, but Ivory Coast's Constitutional Council said Mr Gbagbo had won.
The US, the UN and the EU recognised Mr Ouattara as the winner, but both candidates had themselves sworn in as president and a stand-off ensued.
Skirmishes and battles between the rival forces have since taken place across Ivory Coast, culminating in Mr Ouattara's troops sweeping into Abidjan at the end of March.
Map 
 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12985638

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Chronology of the Press in Burma

1836 – 1846 * During this period the first English-language newspaper was launched under British-ruled Tenasserim, southern  Burma . The first ethnic Karen-language and Burmese-language newspapers also appear in this period.     March 3, 1836 —The first English-language newspaper,  The Maulmain Chronicle , appears in the city of Moulmein in British-ruled Tenasserim. The paper, first published by a British official named E.A. Blundell, continued up until the 1950s. September 1842 —Tavoy’s  Hsa-tu-gaw  (the  Morning Star ), a monthly publication in the Karen-language of  Sgaw ,  is established by the Baptist mission. It is the first ethnic language newspaper. Circulation reached about three hundred until its publication ceased in 1849. January 1843 —The Baptist mission publishes a monthly newspaper, the Christian  Dhamma  Thadinsa  (the  Religious Herald ), in Moulmein. Supposedly the first Burmese-language newspaper, it continued up until the first year of the second Angl

ARSA claims ambush on Myanmar security forces

Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on Sunday claimed responsibility for an ambush on Myanmar security forces that left several wounded in northern Rakhine state, the first attack in weeks in a region gutted by violence. Rakhine was plunged into turmoil last August, when a series of ARSA raids prompted a military backlash so brutal the UN says it likely amounts to ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Rohingya minority. The army campaign sent some 650,000 Rohingya fleeing for Bangladesh, where refugees have given harrowing accounts of rape, murder and arson at the hands of security forces and vigilantes. Myanmar's military, which tightly controls information about Rakhine, denies any abuses and insists the crackdown was a proportionate response to crush the "terrorist" threat. ARSA have launched few attacks in recent months.  But the army reported that "about ten" Rohingya terrorists ambushed a car with hand-made mines and gunfire on Friday morning

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do