Ivory Coast: The Fall of the stubborn Laurent Gbagbo.

[Askari Kanzu]

Pro-Gbagbo Ivorian forces launch assault in Abidjan

By Ange Aboa

ABIDJAN | Sat Mar 12, 2011 12:54pm EST

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Security forces loyal to Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo launched a ground and airborne assault on Saturday to drive fighters backing his rival for the presidency out of a suburb of Abidjan, military officials said.

The attack was the first time helicopters had been deployed in support of an operation in the Abobo neighborhood, the site of fighting between the two sides over recent weeks.

Gbagbo has refused to step down after a November election which Alassane Ouattara won, according to U.N.-certified results. Ensuing violence has claimed several hundred lives and prompted close to half a million Ivorians to flee their homes.

Officials said several hundred soldiers, some armed with rocket-propelled grenades, were taking part in an operation backed by armoured vehicles and two reconnaissance helicopters.

"There was firing all over the place around the Plateau-Dokui (a local square) between 1300 and 1400," said Abobo resident Idrissa Diarrassouba. "A child was hit in the hand by a bullet and houses were struck by bullets."

The latest African Union effort to mediate in the crisis failed this week, adding to fears of a return to civil war in the world's top cocoa grower.

Allies of Gbagbo, who contends that the results of the poll were rigged, refused to accept an AU proposal for a national unity government led by Ouattara.

More:

 

[Mzee2000]

Mimi kuanzia mwanzo nilishangaa kwa nini AU haikupeleka majeshi kumuondoa huyu bagbo, sasa watu watakufa zaidi hivi AU watajifunza lini?

 

[Mwendabure]

Mimi kuanzia mwanzo nilishangaa kwa nini AU haikupeleka majeshi kumuondoa huyu bagbo, sasa watu watakufa zaidi hivi AU watajifunza lini?

Wanajuana hao kaka! Wao hawana hasara ni kukwea pipa kwa kwenda mbele.

 

[Askari Kanzu]

Na hivi sasa kuna kamati nyingine ya AU ya viongozi wa nchi tano: South Africa, Uganda, Mauritania, Congo na Mali kwenda kusuluhisha kasheshe la Libya! Khaaaaa!

Kwa vyo vyote na kule nako watashindwa! AIBU TUPU.

 

[Indume Yene]

JK alikuwa anajisikiaje katika usuluhisho huo huku akijua kuwa kilichotokea Ivory Coast ni sawa na kile ambacho kilitokea Tanzania. Tofauti na Tanzania, aliyeibiwa kura hakutaka kuhamasisha vurugu na wala hakuwa na Dola kutumia nguvu baada ya kura kuchakachuliwa.
Kwa JK kusuluhisha Gbagbo na mwenzake ni kichekesho, anashindwa kumaliza ya UMEYA Arusha anakimbilia Ivory Coast. So weird and unwise.

 

[Margwe]

10 March 2011 Last updated at 14:04
Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo bans UN and French flights

The UN monitored the long-delayed presidential elections intended to reunify the country

The government of disputed President Laurent Gbagbo has banned UN and French peacekeeping aircraft from flying over, or landing in Ivory Coast. The announcement came as Alassane Ouattara, recognised by the UN as the winner of November's poll, went to Ethiopia for a meeting on the crisis.

It is the first time he has left an Abidjan hotel since the poll results were declared in December. Mr Gbagbo has refused to attend the African Union gathering.

Full story

Anybody remembering where AU have at least once succeeded to sort out mzozo? I have no idea

 

[mikatabafeki]

tatizo mkuru nae mbishi ye anataka tu muda wote yupo angani na anakoenda uso unamshuka si arudi tu kutuuliza siku hizi tunalala njaa mara ngapi kwa wiki

 

[shedrackjunior]

hivi inakja kwel ya kwake yanamshinda halafu anajfanya anajua ya wenzake me naona sawasawa 2

 

[Askari Kanzu]

Heavy gunfire in Ivory Coast's economic capital
By Christophe Koffi (AFP)

ABIDJAN — Heavy gunfire rang out in a stronghold of Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo early Monday, a day after gun battles in the west of the country saw his rival's forces seize a fourth town. Pro-Gbagbo troops led a search operation for hidden weapons in the Abidjan suburb after heavy shelling near the home of army chief General Philippe Mangou, head of the Defence and Security Forces (FDS) loyal to the outgoing president.

"There is a search operation in the area, the FDS has been deployed. They are mainly looking for arms caches," according to a pro-Gbagbo military source.

Nearly all businesses in the Yopougon suburb, a Gbagbo stronghold, were closed and traffic dropped sharply with only military vehicles roaming the suburb in the west of Abidjan, according to several witnesses. Heavy gunfire broke out in the suburb shortly before dawn, continuing through the morning.

State-controlled television reported an attack by "terrorists" -- as Gbagbo's camp refers to rival insurgents -- in the suburb, but that the residence of the army chief was not affected.

It is the first time shelling has been reported in Yopougon since a disputed election led to a bloody standoff between Gbagbo and rival Alassane Ouattara, internationally recognised as the winner of the presidential poll.

Google News/AF

 

[Baba Sangara]

Ivory Coast murders and abuse of foreigners documented in report
Human Rights Watch hears victims from Mali, Nigeria and Burkina Faso tell of executions and rape by Gbagbo foot soldiers


David Smith in Abidjan
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 16 March 2011 14.41 GMT

The systematic persecution and murder of foreign nationals in Ivory Coast has been revealed in a harrowing eyewitness account obtained by human rights monitors.

A 21-year-old Malian man told Human Rights Watch how he and six other west Africans were forced to their knees in a dark basement and beaten with an iron bar. Five of the men were executed at point-blank range but he resisted and escaped.

The watchdog said it had documented the beating or burning to death of at least 14 west African immigrants in Ivory Coast. Its report chronicles rising atrocities on both sides of the country's political divide and said those committed by president Laurent Gbagbo's forces may constitute crimes against humanity.

The Malian national, who was not named, told the NGO how he narrowly avoided death on 6 March when he and six others were abducted and forced into two vehicles by militiamen.

"That day I was wearing dirty clothes from working as a porter," the man was quoted as saying. "That's how they knew I was Malian – we're most of the porters. As I was walking, six guys with Kalashnikovs came up behind me, and one of them stuck it into my back and pushed me toward the road. They did the same thing to a couple of others, and soon they had seven of us in total.

"We were all west African nationals. They forced us into two taxis, and when we arrived at an unfinished house they forced us to go down to a basement, where there were other guys with Kalashes waiting. It was dark down there, so they used their cellphones for lights to take us down. It smelled horrible."

He continued: "They beat us with an iron bar and a belt that had a sharp metal buckle. Four of them stood at guard with guns pointed on us at all times. All of them in the basement wore balaclavas. Then they attached black bandanas over the eyes of the first two guys, and one of the [pro-Gbagbo Young] Patriots executed [them] at point-blank range.

"Another guy was lighting the area for him with a cellphone to make sure he didn't miss, even though the distance was only two metres. They did the same to the next three guys, as they were begging for their lives. Five executed right next to me, as they were on their knees. The whole time they kept saying we were rebels, we were rebels.

"When they tried to put the bandana on my head, I fought back. Every time they tried, I'd fight. So then they again beat me with the iron bar. I kept refusing to let them put the bandana on, as did the guy next to me, a youth from Niger. Eventually I heard them say they would finish us off elsewhere, and they took us back outside."

The man concluded: "They forced the guy into a taxi, but I saw another car coming and I took the chance to run for it. They fired two gunshots from behind, but didn't hit me. I ran and then once I got out of their sight, I found a spot to hide. Eventually I made it back home."

Ivory Coast has been locked in violent turmoil since a disputed November election between Gbagbo and his rival Alassane Ouattara, widely recognised as the winner.

Human Rights Watch described an organised pattern of xenophobic attacks. It said the homes, shops and mosques of hundreds of west Africans have been burned, and many have been chased out of their neighbourhoods under threat of death at the hands of pro-Gbagbo militias.

The majority of these attacks came immediately after Gbagbo's youth minister, Charles Ble Goude, called for "real" Ivorians to set up roadblocks in their neighbourhoods and "denounce" foreigners. A militant pro-Gbagbo group has warned Burkina Faso nationals to leave the country by 22 March.

Witnesses described to the watchdog how west Africans were killed by militiamen after being pulled out of taxis. Two marketplace porters were tied up, stuffed into their handcarts and set ablaze. A handicapped man from Burkina Faso accused by militiamen of hiding rebels in his house was brought into an abandoned building and set on fire. Attackers amputated the penises of two other men, then killed them.

The report said: "Residents from Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and Niger gave detailed accounts of daily attacks by pro-Gbagbo security forces and armed militias, who beat foreign residents to death with bricks, clubs, and sticks, or doused them with gas and burned them alive."

Human Rights Watch also documented the rape of nine women by groups of militiamen and police operating together; all the victims were active and public members of Ouattara's political party. In two cases, the women were raped in front of family members, and the husband and father of the victims were then arbitrarily detained and remain "disappeared", the group said.

The report detailed how victims of political violence have been beaten to death with clubs, large pieces of concrete, knives, axes and machetes. Others had their throats slit or were doused with petrol and set ablaze.

It criticised gunmen claiming allegiance to Ouattara – who have taken over parts of north Abidjan in the past three weeks – for summary executions of 11 pro-Gbagbo troops captured since they rose up against the incumbent.

Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said: "The time is long overdue for the UN security council to impose sanctions against Gbagbo and his allies directly implicated in the grave abuses of the post-election period. The international community should also send a clear message to Ouattara's camp that reprisal killings will place them next on the list."

 

[Askari Kanzu]

Mheshimiwa Membe bado unangoja nini?

South Africa recognizes Ouattara as winner in Ivory Coast

JOHANNESBURG | Thu Mar 17, 2011 10:05am EDT

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa backs the African Union in recognizing Alassane Ouattara as the winner of Ivory Coast's disputed presidential election, President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday. Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa grower, has been in turmoil since a disputed November election between Laurent Gbagbo and Ouattara, who won the poll according to U.N.-certified results that Gbabgo has refused to accept.

Zuma said in reply to a question in parliament that South Africa backed the AU's position. "South Africa fully supports the position taken by the African Union on the 10th of March, namely that Mr. Ouattara is recognized as the winner, which is a reaffirmation of the position of ECOWAS," Zuma said, referring to the West African regional grouping.

He said South Africa supported the AU's attempts to find a peaceful solution to the Ivory Coast crisis. Zuma and officials in his foreign ministry had previously given the impression they thought there were doubts over the vote, suggesting they did not back the tougher line taken by West African leaders on Gbagbo.

"We are all of one mind on the way forward toward a sustainable political solution." Violence flared anew in Abidjan on Wednesday, and fighting spread to a new town in the west of the country. The new clashes in western Ivory Coast and heavy fighting in Abidjan have sparked fears that the election meant to reunify the country could instead rekindle civil war.

Ouattara told Gbagbo on Tuesday that an AU offer last week of a safe exit was his last chance to leave power peacefully.
(Reporting by Marius Bosch; Editing by Tim Cocks)

-Reuters

 

[Askari Kanzu]

17 March 2011 Last updated at 17:28 GMT
Ivory Coast crisis: 'Deadly shelling' in Abidjan

Violence since the elections has left 410 people dead

Shells have been fired at a district of Abidjan opposed to disputed Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, with reports of at least 10 dead. Two shell landed in a busy market in the Abobo area, residents said. Some 370,000 people have fled recent clashes in Abidjan - many from Abobo, which backs the man widely recognised as the winner of last year's elections.

Mr Gbagbo's forces have been accused of atrocities against supporters of his presidential rival Alassane Ouattara. It is not clear who fired the shells at Abobo but one resident told BBC Afrique they had come from a nearby barracks.

"We heard artillery fire - we ran to where the shells had landed, at Abobo roundabout - there's a small market opposite the town hall," he said.

"We saw four piled-up bodies - there were nine in total. Then, a second shell hit the market stalls and warehouses, injuring people."


Full story - BBC

 

[runescape]

It will be a long time to ceasefire again.:hatari::hatari::hatari:

 

[Askari Kanzu]

Gbagbo calls on civilians to join Ivory Coast fighting

Smoke rises from Williamsville after a clash between Ivorian security forces and pro-Outtara fighters in Abidjan, March 15, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Luc Gnago

By Tim Cocks and Loucoumane Coulibaly
ABIDJAN | Fri Mar 18, 2011 9:55am EDT

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Laurent Gbagbo's camp has called on Ivory Coast's civilians to help his forces "neutralize" suspected rebels, raising fears of a return to all out civil war as fighting continued in Abidjan on Friday.

The world's top cocoa grower has been gripped by an increasingly violent power struggle since a disputed November 28 election, which Alassane Ouattara won, according to internationally-recognized results, but Gbagbo refuses to concede.
In recent weeks, the crisis has escalated into full scale armed conflict between forces loyal to each in Abidjan and in the west, across a north-south ceasefire line in place since the end of a 2002-3 civil war.

At least 25 people were killed when pro-Gbagbo forces fired a series of mortar rounds into Abidjan's northern Abobo district on Thursday, including one that exploded in a busy marketplace, the U.N. peacekeeping mission said.

Speaking on state-run RTI television just before midnight, Gbagbo's government spokesman Ahoua Don Mello called on Ivorian civilians to join the fight against what he called "terrorism." "His Excellency Mr Laurent Gbagbo calls on Ivorians to take a great responsibility and for a stronger collaboration between citizens and the security forces ... so that all suspect presences in our environment can be 'neutralized'," he said.

Full story

 

[Askari Kanzu]

Jamaa anachochea moto!

Latest update: 20/03/2011
Youth minister calls for thousands to take up arms against Ouattara

Incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo’s controversial youth minister, Charles Blé Goude, has called for thousands of youths to join the armed forces against Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognised winner of a Nov. 28 presidential run-off.
By News Wires

AFP - Strongman Laurent Gbagbo's fiery youth leader on Saturday urged those willing to die for the Ivory Coast to enlist in his armed forces, as thousands fled post-election violence in Abidjan.

Charles Ble Goude, leader of the "Young Patriots", Gbagbo's most fervent and militant backers, rallied thousands of youths to fight as the outgoing president is condemned at home and abroad for the killings of civilians.

His speech came as thousands of citizens of Abidjan poured into bus stations to flee escalating violence after a three-month stand-off for the presidency of the world's top cocoa producer.

"I ask all the youth of Ivory Coast who feel able, who are ready to die for their homeland, who can no longer accept the humiliation suffered by the Ivory Coast, to present themselves on Monday at 0700 (GMT) to the army chief of staff to enlist in the army in order to free Ivory Coast from these bandits," said Ble Goude.

Full Story

 

[Baba Sangara]

Charles Ble Goude needs to be sent to the Hague.... Anyone that promises jobless youth a chance to pillage and loot for personal gain will get a response.. Cote d'Ivoire 40% unemployed youth will do anything for a little money to feed themselves... All this idiot does is capitalizes on these poor youths who will be gun-fodder if there is a war...

 

[Askari Kanzu]

UN: Gbagbo Forces Preparing Heavy Weapons in Ivory Coast

VOA News March 22, 2011

Photo: Reuters
Youth supporters of Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo gather at a stadium at army headquarters in Abidjan to sign up for military service, March 21, 2011

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast says it is concerned that heavy weapons could be used against civilians as rival presidents struggle for power.

In a statement Tuesday, the mission said forces loyal to incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo are repairing an attack helicopter and preparing multiple rocket launchers for use.

The mission called the weapons "a grave threat to the civilian population" and warned Gbagbo forces that the U.N. would act if such weapons are used.

Earlier, Ivory Coast's internationally recognized president, Alassane Ouattara, called on the United Nations to authorize "legitimate force" to protect civilians.

Mr. Gbagbo has resisted calls to relinquish power to Mr. Ouattara, who the United Nations and African Union back as the winner of a November president poll.

Since the election, supporters of the rival presidents have engaged in intense fighting, sparking fears that Ivory Coast may be on the brink of a civil war.

The U.N. says more than 435 people have been killed in post-election violence.

Aid groups say about 90,000 people have fled to neighboring Liberia and some 300,000 have been displaced in the main commercial city of Abidjan.

VOA

 

[Akwaba]

 

[Baba Sangara]

I.Coast violence kills 52 in 1 week

Jobless Youths answering the call to war by the "minister of the Streets" Charles Ble Goude, the minister who has never held a job. Unemployement in Cote d'Ivoire is war already at 40% before elections"

ABIDJAN, Mar 25 - Post-election violence claimed 52 lives in the Ivory Coast in the past week, bringing the death toll this year to 462, the UN mission said, as strongman Laurent Gbagbo clung to power.

Rocket fire and shelling rocked the Abidjan suburb of Abobo, a stronghold of internationally-recognised president Alassane Ouattara, witnesses said.

The United Nations Operation in Ivory Coast (UNOCI) said the west of the country was also wracked by violence, with militia fighters looting a warehouse belonging to the UN refugee agency.

During the week "shelling and indiscriminate violence against civilians claimed at least 52 lives, including five children and seven women, as well as several dozen injured," the UN mission's deputy human rights director said.

"The total number of deaths has gone up to 462 since mid-December" 2010, Guillaume Ngefa told reporters.

In Abobo, where much of the recent unrest in Abidjan has been centred, a resident told AFP he heard heavy weapons fire, rockets and shells nearby.

He could only see members of Gbagbo's Defence and Security Forces (FDS), he added on condition of anonymity.

Pro-Ouattara fighters have in recent weeks clashed with troops loyal to Gbagbo as they try to break out of their Abobo stronghold.

The UN on Thursday warned both Gbagbo's forces and local militias backing Ouattara that "deliberately launching generalised or systematic attacks against civilian populations could constitute crimes against humanity."

Ngefa said residents of the commercial capital Abidjan "continue to massively flee their suburbs due to the violence and a lack of access to food and medicine."

Valerie Amos, the head of UN humanitarian and emergency relief operations at the body's New York headquarters, also expressed concern.

"The escalation of violence and use of heavy weaponry, particularly in urban areas, is taking an increasing toll on civilians," she said in a statement.

"I am also concerned about the increasing targeting and harassment of immigrants from other parts of West Africa, thousands of whom are fleeing the country," she added.

"The destruction of civilian property, including shops that provide people a way of making a living, is also completely unacceptable," she added.

In the west of Ivory Coast, rival forces battled for strategic towns.

"There has been a lot of violence, a lot of confusion in Guiglo," UNOCI spokesman Hamadoun Toure told reporters.

"There have been attacks and looting against a United Nations agency. The HCR warehouse was looted," he added.

Guiglo, along with Duekoue, 30 kilometres (20 miles) to the northeast, are key crossroads leading east to the political capital Yamassoukro and south to San Pedro, the world's biggest cocoa exporting port.

Sources said Wednesday thousands were fleeing clashes on the road between Guiglo -- held by pro-Gbagbo troops -- and the town of Blolequin, some 60 kilometres (40 miles) to the west, seized by Ouattara fighters on Monday.

UNOCI raised the alarm Tuesday about the use of heavy weapons by Gbagbo forces against civilians.

UNOCI "has the means" to prevent the use of a MI-24 attack helicopter, being repaired in the military wing of Abidjan airport, as well as BM21 multiple rocket launchers in the hands of Gbagbo troops," Toure warned Thursday.

"It is a strong warning, and we really mean it and we will do it," he said, adding that these were non-conventional weapons whose use was forbidden after World War II.

The 10,000-strong UN mission has been criticised for failing to protect civilians as violence has escalated, but Toure said it was limited by its peacekeeping mandate.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), meeting in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Thursday, called on the UN Security Council to strengthen that mandate.

They want to enable the mission to "use all necessary means to protect life and property, and to facilitate the immediate transfer of power to Mr. Alassane Ouattara".

ECOWAS also "requests the UN Security Council to adopt more stringent international targeted sanctions against Mr. Laurent Gbagbo and his associates".

French President Nicolas Sarkozy meanwhile called on the United Nations to ban the use of heavy weapons in Abidjan.

Gbagbo's camp has harshly criticised the UN mission and demanded it leave the country.

Gunfodder

Capital FM Kenya: I.Coast violence kills 52 in 1 week

 

[Akwaba]

The Minister of the Streets before the elections. Sorry you need to know French