[güttsfükk]

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Ivory Coast eyewitness: Panic in Abidjan

Nfor Susugi, a resident of Abidjan and a former senior official at the African Development Bank, tells the BBC's Network Africa programme that panic is spreading in the besieged city.

"All has been quiet as far as fighting is concerned out there today. There have been very few gunshots in the air.

No shops are open, the few that are open have run out of supplies. And so there's a kind of a panic situation that is prevailing all over town now on the dwindling supplies.

We bought a very big bag of flour and we have some yeast and some cooking oil, so what we do is we prepare puff puff [doughnuts] to have with coffee. That's part of our steady meal.

We are expecting that fighting is going to resume with considerable ferocity in the days ahead.

The threats of invasion [to oust Laurent Gbagbo] by Ecomog [the West African peacekeeping mission], which was very much in the air as part of the negotiations, actually led them [Mr Gbagbo's forces] to prepare.

There's some very, very tough resistance mood in this country from the inside, which may be not very visible from the outside.

But these guys [pro-Gbagbo forces] have been very much prepared for it and they are going to give any invading force a very tough fight.

Looting is a very big problem.

The [Alassane] Ouattara forces that swept down from the north came too quickly and they did not prepare themselves enough in having a supply chain in terms of food, water and so forth.

They find that the battle is dragging out. So many of the fighting forces are basically scrounging around for food, and that is part of what is doing the looting out there.

The stories that are coming out of the west - Daloa, Duekoue, Guiberoua - these are the hometowns of people like [Chelsea footballer Didier] Drogba.

I mean the worst publicity that you can acquire is the story that Drogba's town has been burned down.

You don't want to get that kind of negative publicity on your side. So they are not winning hearts and minds, I'm afraid, for the Ouattara camp right now.

The local television station shows him [Mr Gbagbo] with his closest advisers at the presidency in a very relaxed mood.

They are joking with each other, slapping each other's knees.

It's like 'they can handle it, they are ready for a long fight'.

Obviously you are a head of state and you are under siege, you cannot afford to give the impression that you are scared."

Source : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12957580

[güttsfükk]

Ivory Coast: Laurent Gbagbo 'negotiating surrender'

The UN says three generals loyal to Ivory Coast's besieged President Laurent Gbagbo are negotiating terms for surrender in return for guarantees of safety for them and Mr Gbagbo.

France says negotiators are on the brink of agreeing his departure.

Mr Gbagbo is sheltering with his family in the basement bunker of his residence in the main city, Abidjan.

Troops loyal to Mr Gbagbo's rival, UN-recognised President Alassane Ouattara, say they have surrounded the compound.

The UN says Mr Gbagbo's military and civilian advisers are leaving him.

"We are very close to convincing him to leave power," French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told the National Assembly in Paris.

Mr Gbagbo's spokesman, Ahoua Don Mello, said there were "direct negotiations based on African Union recommendations which said Alassane Ouattara is president."

"They are also negotiating judicial and security conditions for Gbagbo's camp and his relatives," Mr Don Mello said.

Mr Gbagbo has refused to leave office even though the Ivorian election commission declared him the loser of November's run-off vote, and the UN certified the result.

The BBC's Andrew Harding, who is on the outskirts of Abidjan, says news of the surrender talks has been circulating rapidly.

It has not been greeted with excitement but with a weary sense of relief, our correspondent says, with people asking why Mr Gbagbo had to put them through all this war and destruction.

Source : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12975539

[Phobophile]

thx for the info!

[güttsfükk]

Ivorian Turmoil

• 28 November: Incumbent Laurent Gbagbo and challenger Alassane Ouattara in election run-off
• 2 December: Electoral commission announces that Ouattara has won
• 3 December: Constitutional Council declaring Gbagbo the winner; UN says Ouattara was victor
• 30 March: Pro-Ouattara forces enter the capital, Yamoussoukro
• 4 April: UN launches air strikes on Gbagbo in main city, Abidjan
• 5 April: Three generals negotiate Gbagbo's surrender

Ivory Coast: Ouattara forces storm Gbagbo residence

Forces opposed to Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo have launched a final assault on his presidential residence.

He has been negotiating departure terms with the UN while under siege by troops loyal to his rival Alassane Ouattara.

But France's foreign minister said talks had failed, blaming Mr Gbagbo. Gunfire and fighting have been heard at Mr Gbagbo's residence in Abidjan.

Mr Gbagbo insists he won November's run-off vote, but election officials found Mr Ouattara was the winner.

That result was certified by the UN, but Mr Gbagbo has refused to leave office.

Mr Gbagbo and his family are believed to be sheltering in the bunker of the presidential residence, which was controlled by his troops.

Two days of heavy fighting stopped late on Tuesday and negotiations with Mr Gbagbo carried on throughout the night.

But by Wednesday morning it appeared the patience of pro-Ouattara forces had run out.

"We are going to get Laurent Gbagbo out of his hole and hand him over to the president of the Republic," said Sidiki Konate, spokesman of Mr Ouattara's prime minister, Guillaume Soro.

In Paris, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Mr Gbagbo's "intransigence" had caused talks to fail.

"The conditions set by President Ouattara are very clear: he demands that Laurent Gbagbo accepts his defeat and recognises the victory of the legitimately elected president," he told parliament.

"That's where we stand today, so sadly the arms have begun to talk again."

French and UN troops are attempting to maintain security around Abidjan under the terms of a UN Security Council resolution, but Mr Juppe said they were not involved in the offensive against Mr Gbagbo.

'In the building'

Affousy Bamba, a spokeswoman for troops backing Mr Ouattara, told Reuters news agency: "Yes they [Ouattara forces] are in the process of entering the residence to seize Gbagbo.

"They have not taken him yet, but they are in the process, they are in the building."

A resident who lives close to Mr Gbagbo's residence told Reuters of fighting and explosions.

"We can hear automatic gunfire and also the thud of heavy weapons. There's shooting all over the place," Alfred Kouassi said.

A spokesman for Mr Ouattara said fighters had been given strict instructions not to harm Mr Gbagbo.

The BBC's Andrew Harding near Abidjan says the UN wants Mr Gbagbo to leave unharmed in order not to destabilise the country further. Mr Gbagbo still has strong support, having won 46% of the vote in the election, he adds.

Speaking by phone to French radio, Mr Gbagbo - sounding defiant - denied he was hiding in a bunker.

"I am in the residence - the residence of the president of the republic. Now, when it rains, can't one take shelter inside one's house?"

Mr Gbagbo had earlier denied he was surrendering, saying he was only negotiating a truce.

"I won the election and I'm not negotiating my departure," he said.

The BBC's John James, who is outside Abidjan, says it feels like it is the "endgame" for Mr Gbagbo. But the ideal situation would be a deal that would allow economic activity to resume and for the people of Ivory Coast to resume some sort of normal life, he adds.

On Monday pro-Ouattara fighters, backed by UN and French helicopters attacked Mr Gbagbo's military installations in Abidjan, saying they aimed to protect civilians.

Following Tuesday's ceasefire the city passed a largely quiet night, apart from shootings blamed on gangs, but its population of four million remained indoors.

Civilians told the BBC they were very scared. Small groups have been walking out of the city with their hands raised in the air.

In other developments, the EU imposed fresh sanctions on Mr Gbagbo on Wednesday, banning the purchase of bonds from his "illegitimate government".

Last November's election was intended to reunite Ivory Coast which split in two following a northern rebellion in 2002.

The electoral commission pronounced Mr Ouattara the victor, but Ivory Coast's Constitutional Council said Mr Gbagbo had won.

The US, the UN and the EU recognised Mr Ouattara as the winner, but both candidates had themselves sworn in as president and a stand-off ensued.

Skirmishes and battles between the rival forces have since taken place across Ivory Coast, culminating in Mr Ouattara's troops sweeping into Abidjan at the end of March.

Source : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12985638

[osiris]

He hasn't surrendered dude.