Ivory Coast: Gbagbo 'expels UK and Canada envoys'

[Bernkastel]

From the BBC:

Ivory Coast's incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo is expelling the British and Canadian ambassadors, a statement on state television has said. It said the action was being taken as a reciprocal measure. The UK said it did not accept that the move was valid. Mr Gbagbo has refused to step down despite rival Alassane Ouattara gaining international recognition as November's presidential election winner.

Mr Ouattara has urged West African special forces to remove Mr Gbagbo.

The West African regional body Ecowas has threatened to force Mr Gbagbo out but has said it wants to try mediation efforts first. Mr Gbagbo still has the public backing of the army and control of state media.

Blockade

The state television statement said the UK and Canadian envoys were being expelled as their countries no longer recognised Mr Gbagbo's ambassadors. "Through the application of the principle of reciprocity governing diplomatic relations, the ministry informs Madame Marie Isabelle Massip that her accreditation as Canadian ambassador in Ivory Coast is ended. "For the same reasons, the foreign ministry informs ambassador Nicholas James Westcott that his accreditation as United Kingdom and Northern Ireland ambassador is also ended."

The UK Foreign Office responded by saying: "The British government has recognised Mr Alassane Ouattara as the democratically elected president of Cote D'Ivoire. It recognises the legitimacy of statements made by, or on behalf of, his government. The British government does not accept the validity of statements made by others." The UK withdrew recognition of Mr Gbagbo's envoy on 31 December and Canada did the same on 29 December. France has said it will recognise Mr Ouattara's envoy. The United Nations has also recognised Mr Ouattara's appointee, Youssoufou Bamba, as Ivory Coast ambassador to the UN. Mr Ouattara remains behind a blockade at a hotel in the main city Abidjan, protected by UN peacekeepers and New Forces former rebels who control the north of the country.

November's election was intended to reunify the country which has been divided since a 2002 conflict.

Mr Ouattara was initially proclaimed the winner by the country's election commission - a verdict backed by the UN, which helped organise the poll. But the country's Constitutional Council, headed by an ally of Mr Gbagbo, later ruled that he had won, citing voting irregularities in the north. Separately on Thursday, the US announced it had frozen the assets of Mr Gbagbo, his wife and three aides. It said it was barring US citizens from financial dealings with Mr Gbagbo. Adam Szubin, of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, said the US wanted to "isolate him and his inner circle from the world's financial system and underscore the desire of the international community that he step down".

'Key buildings'

Meanwhile, Ecowas has already started drawing up plans for a regional intervention force.

But the BBC's John James in Abidjan says it is not clear how ready the countries in the region are to contribute troops to an intervention that could potentially face a regular army numbering 18,000 men. However, Mr Ouattara, who has many supporters in northern Ivory Coast, said it was just a question of removing Mr Gbagbo from power and taking control of key buildings like the presidential palace.

"Legitimate force doesn't mean a force against Ivorians," Mr Ouattara told reporters on Thursday, AFP news agency reports.

"It's a force to remove Laurent Gbagbo and that's been done elsewhere, in Africa and in Latin America, there are non-violent special operations which allow simply to take the unwanted person and take him elsewhere."

However, Ecowas does not have the sophisticated equipment and personnel needed for a special forces operation, our reporter says. The former colonial power France, which has 900 soldiers on the ground, says it will not intervene. There are an estimated 10,000 UN troops in Ivory Coast - and the mission has sent a request to the UN Security Council for an extra 1,000-2,000.

[HarrionGreyjoy]

I haven't really been following the situation - how messy would an intervention get, and how certain are we Ouatarra won the election? I imagine we're pretty certain about the latter if Britain and France booted ambassadors and the rest of the region is considering a smackdown, but weirder shit has happened in international politics.

[xerex]

how certain are we Ouatarra won the election? I imagine we're pretty certain about the latter if Britain and France booted ambassadors and the rest of the region is considering a smackdown, but weirder shit has happened in international politics.

well not 100% certian but here is what we know.


http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews ... dChannel=0

After repeated delays due to wrangling within his organisation over the results, election commission chairman Youssouf Bakayoko announced that Ouattara had won the November 28 vote with 54.1 percent of the vote.

"The electoral commission has, in accordance with the law, handed over to the Constitutional Council the results it has received and validated, accompanied by the result sheets," Bakayoko said at a hastily-organised news conference.

President Laurent Gbagbo's party, which is seeking the cancellation of results from four northern regions that are Ouattara strongholds, rejected the result.

Soon after the election commission statement, Paul Yao N'dre, a staunch ally of Gbagbo's who heads the Constitutional Council, which must confirm the results, said the poll body had missed a Wednesday deadline to issue provisional results

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... d81b07.751

Ivory Coast's Constitutional Council Friday named incumbent Laurent Gbagbo winner of presidential elections, overruling provisional results that showed his rival Alassane Ouattara had won.

The council's president Paul Yao N'Dre, a close ally of Gbagbo, said he won with a slim majority of 51.45 percent against 48.55 for Ouattara.

In a declaration read out to reporters, Yao N'Dre said the council had annulled results in seven regions in the northern half of the country, Ouattara's stronghold.

It therefore ruled invalid the earlier provisional results from the Independent Electoral Commission that gave Outtara 54 percent and Gbagbo 46.