Ivory Coast: maintaining the blockade on Ouattara’s Camp

“If the FN   go to Bouaké, the blockade will be lifted”, has declared the Gbagbo government responsible, referring to the New Forces and former rebels allied to Mr. Ouattara. The Ivorian army believes that no one can tolerate the presence of  300 heavily armed soldiers of the former rebellion in this hotel.

This is a threat, including even for President Gbagbo.  The Defense and Security Forces (DSF) are blocking the land access to the Golf hotel, which is secured by 800 peacekeepers. The UN will request the deployment of a 1000 or more peacekeepers to join the UNOCI mission, actually counting 9500 soldiers, the UN peacekeeping operation Chief, Alain Le Roy, has declared. He added that the UN force  is facing great difficulties, and the population is increasingly hostile to it, because of the state television false allegations, but also a massive ethnic conflict of the fears. For its part, the African Union Envoy, the Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, has promised amnesty for the incumbent president if he leaves the power. He will not be prosecuted or persecuted, either he remains in Ivory Coast or chooses the exile. Odinga has insisted on a new mission to return “as soon as possible” to Abidjan to avoid any vacuum within the process stages. Laurent Gbagbo is threatened to be overthrown militarily by the ECOWAS, if he does not give back the power to Mr Ouattara. But Mr. Gbagbo said he was ready to negotiate “without preconditions, and the Ouattara Camp thinks the only possible outcome is promptly to leave, accusing Gbagbo of gaining time “. Accordingly the crisis drags on, and fears of confrontation are building up among the Ivories to the degree the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has estimated about 22. 000 citizens have fled to Liberia.

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