Abidjan, Ivory Coast-Laurent Ggbagbo pressured to step down

[Ameir Eshaq]

No dictator has hardly left power willfully or peacefully(Idi Amin Dada, Bokassa, Milosevic...). Dictators especially the ones with repeatedly atrocious human rights abuses like Gbagbo only step down by force.ECOWAS needs to follow through with its communique of december 24th which threathened force if Gbagbo does not step down.AU and ECOWAS have to be careful not to transform their ultimatum into a mediation or succumb to Gbagbo's blackmails that his departure from power would create civil or regional war. What serious or responsible head of state will say: "After me, it will be chaos". During the campaign Gbagbo did not tell the Ivorians faillure to elect him will cause a civil or regional war.He just said that he would respect the will of the people. So far he hasn't follow through with that. Gbagbo needs to go because he lost the elections that he himself willifully accepted and asked the UN to monitor and certify the results.All of his new shenanigans (recount or investigation by the international community) are simply stalling tactics to gain time, spread his propagandas and lies to divide the Ivorians and the now-united international community.It is highly time for ECOWAS, the regional to act and act now. The time for talk is over.At stake here is the survival of democracy in sub-saharian Africa and the credibility and relevance ECOWAS, AU, UN and the international community

 

[Mallaba]

Jordanian peacekeepers, patrol along a street in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, on Dec 30. Some people yell "UN out!" as the Jordanian UN peacekeepers pass by in their armored personnel carriers, but generally these soldiers don't understand French and so they miss the comments. Marc Chown Oved / Associated Press​

ABIDJAN, Cote d'Ivoire - African powers were launching a new diplomatic push for a peaceful solution to the Cote d'Ivoire's deadly crisis on Monday, piling pressure on defiant leader Laurent Gbagbo to quit and avoid an armed intervention.
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, named by the African Union to try to broker an end to the standoff between Gbagbo and the man the world says beat him to the presidency, Alassane Ouattara, flew to Nigeria on Sunday en route to Abidjan.
Odinga, who has previously called for Gbagbo's removal by force, had dinner with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who also heads the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
"I will travel to Abidjan to meet presidents Gbagbo and Alassane Quattara and return in the evening to Abuja to brief President Jonathan on my mission," he said.
Ahead of the talks, Odinga said he would keep an open mind on finding a solution for Cote d'Ivoire.

"We don't want to pre-empt anything. We just want to talk to him (Gbagbo) and we will see what happens," Odinga told AFP after he arrived in Nigeria.
"It depends on how Gbagbo wants to handle it."
Odinga will meet the Cote d'Ivoire strongman alongside three regional presidents returning to Abidjan on Monday on behalf of ECOWAS, a source close to the African Union told AFP.
Benin's Boni Yayi, Sierra Leone's Ernest Koroma and Cape Verde's Pedro Pires have so far failed to convince Gbagbo to step down despite ECOWAS brandishing the threat of military intervention to oust him if mediation fails.
Jonathan said ECOWAS will decide by Tuesday how to handle the impasse, which threatens to erupt into civil conflict.
West African regional military chiefs met in Abuja last week and set in motion plans to oust Gbagbo if negotiations fail, according to a Nigerian defense spokesman.
A meeting to fine-tune the "last-resort" plan is scheduled for Mali on Jan 17 and 18.
Tensions have risen steadily in the deadly standoff since Gbagbo and Ouattara both claimed victory in a Nov 28 presidential run-off vote that it was hoped would end a decade of crisis in Cote d'Ivoire.
Agence France-Presse

 

[Mkono]

am sure mseto goverment is around u Ivorians!

 

[Ameir Eshaq]

aurent Gbagbo will serve a good example to those trying to stay in power for eternity.
He seems to make the the all things about France and International community, but he was in power for 10years and did not take no distance from France, he did not undo all his country tie with France or others...So he needs to tell us why 800,000 votes of ADO was cancelled in less than 24hrs after it was declared President??

 

[Tiba]

This is just buying time but he shall go by all means. In a situation that he is not supported by AU, ECOWAS or UN, he has no alternative but to step down. He is no longer running a central bank account with ECOWAS, no presidential plane, no UN representation what kind of a president is going to be? No way, he must go!!!!

Tiba