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Africa Subsaharan
Use of force ruled out in Ivory Coast
2010-12-30
[Iran Press TV] Leaders of West African nations have ruled out the use of force to remove Ivory Coast's incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo following the nation's disputed elections.
"We're going to rely on former President Gbagbo's gentlemanly sense of fairness, instead." Of course, if former President Gbagbo had a gentlemanly sense of fairness, they wouldn't be in this pickle, but really that's a minor detail.
"This initial mediation has helped to establish a bridge towards dialogue between the two camps, and we are no longer talking of military intervention by ECOWAS (the Economic Community of West African States) which seems, thankfully, to have been set aside for the moment," AFP quoted Cape Verde's foreign affairs secretary Jorge Borges as saying.

The 15-member ECOWAS has threatened force if Gbagbo does not cede power in favor of his rival Allasane Ouattara.

Borges said diplomacy was being given a chance however, and that negotiations would continue without a military threat looming over the process.

The presidents of Benin, Sierra Leone and Cape Verde have travelled to Abidjan as representatives of the ECOWAS hoping Gbagbo would agree to hand over the power to Ouattara.

Gbagbo has threatened to cut diplomatic ties with any country recognizing his rival, warning that any attempt to overthrow him could trigger another civil war in the region.

According to the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, about 20,000 Ivorians have decamped to Liberia, fearing the political deadlock in the country might lead to a civil war.

Both Gbagbo and Ouattara claimed victory in the November 28 run-off presidential election.

In a sign of escalating tensions, a crowd attacked a UN convoy in Abidjan on Tuesday, injuring a peacekeeper.

The United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society says over 170 people have died and scores of others have been tortured in the post-election violence in the country.
Posted by:Fred

#2  mojo, you might want to Google "ivory coast drug traffic".
Posted by: Abu Uluque (new computer)   2010-12-30 12:05  

#1  Ok, what is it that the Ivory Coast has that the usual suspects want? It sure as hell isn't a functioning government.
Posted by: mojo   2010-12-30 11:36  

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