Nigeria Content Online

Military
intervention in Cote d’Ivoire need not trigger civil war, presidential
claimant Alassane Ouattara said on Wednesday, as his rival seemed to
reverse a pledge to lift a blockade on his headquarters.

Mr Ouattara said he
preferred a peaceful solution to his post-election standoff with
incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo, but dismissed negotiations, telling
France 24 television “Mr Gbagbo must leave power to allow Cote d’Ivoire
to return to normal.”

Mr Gbagbo has
refused to cede power to Mr Ouattara, widely seen as winner of a
disputed November 28 election, despite international pressure,
sanctions and the threat of force, and he has accused world leaders of
meddling in Cote d’Ivoire’s internal affairs.

Mr Ouattara’s aides
have called for a regional West African force to make good on a threat
to kick out Mr Gbagbo if he refuses to go, but there are fears it may
not be able to attempt such action without getting bogged down in war.

“I think he will be
responsible for the situation that he will face. Military intervention
does not mean that Cote d’Ivoire will ignite,” Mr Ouattara said of his
rival, from inside the Golf Hotel, where he is under U.N. protection.

“All that needs to
be done, as has been done in other African countries, is to come and
get Mr Gbagbo and remove him from the presidential palace.” Mr Ouattara
said an offer this week by Mr Gbagbo to negotiate an end to the crisis
was just an attempt to “buy time in order to recruit mercenaries to
kill Ivoriens and smuggle money out”.

Blockade goes on

Cote d’Ivoire
security forces on Wednesday maintained a blockade of the Golf Hotel,
despite a promise by Mr Gbagbo to ease it. Mr Gbagbo’s foreign minister
Alcide Djedje told a news conference on Wednesday the blockade would
not be lifted while the 300 armed rebels loyal to Mr Ouattara remain
inside.

“That constitutes a
threat for the president. It’s a question of the soldiers of the New
Forces (rebels) leaving the hotel as a condition of lifting the
blockade,” he said.

A heavy military and police presence was still sealing off roads leading to the lagoon-side hotel on Wednesday.

“Mister, don’t try and come through here. Turn your car around and don’t argue,” a soldier wielding an AK-47 said.

Only U.N.
helicopters and supply trucks have access. Mr Gbagbo is backed by his
security forces, some Ivorien youth and militia groups, and the
Constitutional Council, which overturned Mr Ouattara’s 8-point election
win, alleging fraud.

He has refused
exile in South Africa, Nigeria and the United States. “President Gbagbo
doesn’t need to go to Washington. He’s fine where he is and he intends
to stay there,” Mr Djedje said.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson said on Wednesday he should cede power to Mr Ouattara.

“There is no question that the election in the Cote d’Ivoire was stolen by President Gbagbo and those around him,” he said.

After efforts at
mediation by four African leaders on Monday, Mr Gbagbo agreed to
continue talks to end the crisis. But an end to the standoff seems far
off.

More than 170
people have been killed since the dispute started, rekindling divisions
in the country that have festered since the civil war of 2002-03.

Diplomats and
security sources say many of the dead are victims of death squads
operating at night in neighbourhoods where Mr Ouattara is popular, and
the U.N. says hundreds more have been kidnapped by Ivorien forces and
allied militias.

Mr Gbagbo’s camp
says these are lies meant to discredit him. Despite the political
turmoil, cocoa for export is arriving at Cote d’Ivoire’s ports in
similar quantities to last season. Cote d’Ivoire is the world’s top
cocoa grower.

The country’s
Eurobond is trading at yield of 15 percent, after it failed to meet an
interest payment on Friday, although it will only be in default after a
month’s grace period.

In a statement on
Wednesday, the U.N. mission condemned what it called human rights
violations, including a raid by security forces on Mr Ouattara’s party
headquarters on Tuesday.

That raid killed an activist and left many people wounded, including some security forces, according to state media.

REUTERS