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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Gbagbo seeks Zimbabwe support over crisis |
| 2011-01-08 |
[The Nation (Nairobi)] An envoy of embattled Ivory Coast leader Mr Laurent Gbabgo was in Zimbabwe on Thursday to meet government officials, sparking rumours that the strongman is seeking President Bob MuggsyMugabe's support to hold on to power. The Ivorian ambassador to South Africa Mr Zogue Abie met Acting President John Nkomo to brief him on the situation in his country. The envoy flew back to South Africa soon after the meeting that was also attended by Zimbabwe's acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Hebert Murerwa. An official said Mr Zogue was told that Zimbabwe would stand guided by the African Union (AU) position on Ivory Coast. Mr Nkomo is the acting president because Mr Mugabe is on his annual vacation. The presidential front man Mr George Charamba said Ivory Coast "was asking for an international commission to come in and evaluate the whole process on voting and where to get the truth on what happened." "He said there must be a recount of votes and a peaceful resolution to the crisis." The Ivorian leader who has ruled the world's biggest cocoa producer for close to a decade has refused to hand over power to his bitter rival Mr Alassane Ouattara despite losing in the November 28 elections. Mr Ouattara has set up a parallel government that has received recognition from the AU, the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society, Western and some African governments. The situation playing out in Ivory Coast has been liked to President Robert Mugabe's disputed 2008 re-election. The veteran ruler won a controversial presidential run-off against his rival and now Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai but in a surprise move a number of African governments refused to recognise his victory because of the massive violence and fraud that accompanied the election. Mr Tsvangirai who had won the first round but failed to garner enough votes to claim the presidency was forced to withdraw before the runoff because of the violence. Last month, Mr Gbagbo defended Mr Mugabe's refusal to hand over power saying he was a victim of Western interference. "When you go through what I've been through, you tell yourself: perhaps Mugabe wasn't completely wrong after all," he said. Many Zimbabweans have commended the tough stance taken by the Economic Community of West Africa, which they say shows that the Southern African Development Community has been treating Mr Mugabe with kid gloves. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 Jim, I'm not sure Gbagbo was ever on the 'leader' side of the lane. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2011-01-08 10:33 |
| #2 What a shocking turn of events! Who else could he turn to? Oogo? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2011-01-08 09:49 |
| #1 I IS BOSS AND I IS GONNA STAY BOSS. Just crossed the line from leader to thug/dictator. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2011-01-08 05:50 |