US renews call for I. Coast's Gbagbo to go Skip to main content

US renews call for I. Coast's Gbagbo to go

©AFP / Issouf Sanogo
Ouattara's fighters held firm to their positions as heavy arms fire broke out early on Sunday
ABIDJAN (AFP) - The United States on Sunday renewed a call for Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo to step aside as the struggle for control of Ivory Coast's main city Abidjan entered a fourth day.
"The path forward is clear," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said early Sunday. Gbagbo "must leave now so the conflict may end."
Gbagbo, cornered in his Abidjan palace after forces loyal to internationally recognised election victor Alassane Ouattara claimed control of most of the rest of the country, "is pushing Cote d'Ivoire into lawlessness," Clinton added.
Early Sunday residents and AFP journalists said Ouattara's fighters held firm to their positions as sporadic heavy arms fire broke out near the presidential palace.
Clinton said the United States was "deeply concerned" by what she called "the dangerous and deteriorating situation" in the world's top cocoa producer, including recent reports of human rights abuses and massacres in the west of the country.
©AFPTV
VIDEO: Battle for Abidjan rages as Gbagbo digs in. Duration: 00:58
Reports of carnage emerged from the western town of Duekoue where the International Red Cross said 800 died in one day in an incident "particularly shocking by its size and brutality".
The Catholic mission Caritas reported 1,000 were "killed or disappeared" while the UN mission gave an initial death toll of 330, accusing fighters from both camps of involvement in the mass killings.
Rinaldo Depagne, an expert from the International Crisis Group think tank, said the accusations could seriously tarnish Ouattara's credibility.
The 69-year-old former prime minister was elected president in November but prevented from taking office as Gbagbo stubbornly refuses to leave.
Profile: Laurent Gbagbo
"It is not good for him at all," Depagne said. "He has been elected democratically and he wears the suit of both a democratic man and one used to the Western world, who worked for the IMF (International Monetary Fund). Suddenly this suit is dirty."
In Abidjan, an offensive by Ouattara's army on Gbagbo's strongholds raged on Saturday when walls shook as mortar and other heavy arms fire broke out near the presidential palace, AFP journalists said.
©AFP/File / Issouf Sanogo
French military mission in Ivory Coast (Licorn) soldiers patrol a street in Abidjan
The UN mission UNOCI meanwhile reported two separate attacks on its peacekeepers by Gbagbo forces, leaving four seriously injured, and warned its mandate allowed "the use of force when under attack."
While Gbagbo's camp claimed to have pushed back an assault on Friday, Ouattara's fighters warned that the offensive "has not yet begun".
"We are taking steps to weaken the enemy before mounting an assault," said Captain Leon Kouakou Alla, spokesman for Ouattara's defence ministry.
Weary with failed diplomatic efforts to resolve a post-election crisis, Ouattara's army on Monday launched a lightning offensive across the country before arriving in Abidjan on Thursday.
Fierce fighting accompanied by loud explosions and bursts of machine-gun fire have sent residents of the city of five million people into lockdown, and more than 1,500 foreigners sought refuge at a French military camp.
©AFP / Issouf Sanogo
Some 330 people were killed early last week - around 100 of them likely by pro-Gbagbo troops - a UN official said
As the violence escalated, both camps have been accused of atrocities that rights groups say may amount to crimes against humanity.
Hundreds of bodies were discovered in the wake of a fierce battle for Duekoue, with accusations flying as to who is responsible.
Some 330 people were killed early last week, according to Guillaume N'gefa of the UNOCI human rights division, who said most were "executed by 'dozos'," or traditional hunters fighting with Ouattara's camp.
He said that among these more than 100 were killed by pro-Gbagbo forces.
A spokesman for the pro-Ouattara Republican Forces, Seydou Ouattara, said they had killed "militia and not civilians" and sought to distance the forces from the "dozos".
©AFP/File / Issouf Sanogo
A spokesman for troops loyal to Ouattara said they had killed "militia and not civilians"
"Militiamen are not civilians. From the moment they are armed, they are considered combatants. We must avoid all confusion," he told AFP.
Ouattara's government accused "the loyal forces, mercenaries and militias of Laurent Gbagbo" of being behind mass graves discovered in the area.
Profile: Alassane Ouattara
French President Nicolas Sarkozy's office condemned the "grave violence".
"Too many attacks, too many crimes have already been committed in Ivory Coast over the last four months. Those who are guilty of human rights abuses should know that they will be held to account," it said.
The United Nations estimates a million people have fled Abidjan in recent weeks fearing a bloodbath.

http://www.afp.com/afpcom/en/taglibrary/thematic/actuality
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sri Bhaddanta Chandramani Mahathera

The Life Story of A Distinguished And Outstanding Bhikkhu The Most Venerable Saradawpharagree Sri Bhaddanta Chandramani Mahathera The Buddhist missionary Saradaw Ashin U Chandramani was endowed with great gifts and led a famous and long life. He was a very well known, distinguished and outstanding Bhikkhu Mahathera. While living in the Kushinagar Monastery, a place close to where the Lord Buddha had passed away to Nirvana, the Government of India had offered, and he had accepted, the highest, most honourable and respected title "Guru Guru MahaGuru". He became the first ever President of all Buddhists in India.A World Buddhist Conference took place in Kathmandu during the reign of King Mahindra of Nepal. The Conference was very well attended by over one hundred thousand Buddhists from various parts of the world and it was opened by King Mahindra himself. As requested by the King, Saradawpharagree blessed all the participants with the power of Triple Gems...
Post a Comment
Read more

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...
1 comment
Read more

Three Dead, Seven Injured by Artillery Shells in Two Incidents in Myanmar’s Mrauk-U

By MIN AUNG KHINE 2 December 2019 Sittwe, Rakhine State –Three Mrauk-U township residents died and four others were injured when an artillery shell struck their community in the Ale Zay quarter of Mrauk-U town on Monday afternoon after 4 p.m. A month-old girl, a 4-year-old boy and a 30-year-old woman died, according to Dr. Khin Maung Yin, the head of Mrauk-U hospital. He said, “A man and three other women were injured. One of the women sustained severe injures to her left leg and her right knee was dislocated. The injured will be operated on.” Details of what occurred were not yet known. A few hours earlier, three civilians were injured when an artillery shell fell on the village of Na Leik in Mrauk-U Township, Rakhine State, western Myanmar, on Monday at around 1 p.m., according to Yan Aung Pyin village-tract administrator U Sein Hla Aung. Two females, aged 13 and 27, and an 18-year-old male were injured in the incident, he said. Three people were hit by shrapnel and we have...
Post a Comment
Read more