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Reports that
Belarus has delivered three attack helicopters to Ivory Coast strongman
Laurent Gbagbo in violation of U.N. sanctions have not been confirmed,
U.N. diplomats told Reuters on Monday.

U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s office issued a statement overnight
saying that Ban “learned with deep concern that three attack
helicopters and related materiel from Belarus are reportedly being
delivered” for Ggagbo’s forces.

“The first delivery
arrived reportedly on a flight which landed this evening and additional
flights are scheduled for tomorrow,” it said. “This is a serious
violation of the embargo against Cote d’Ivoire which has been in place
since 2004.” Diplomats said Mr Ki-Moon’s allegation was based on
reports he had received from the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Ivory
Coast.

But U.N. Security
Council and other diplomats said on condition of anonymity that neither
the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations nor the Security
Council’s so-called Group of Experts that monitors sanctions violations
could confirm the allegation, which Belarus has denied.

A report from the
expert group (parts of which were read to Reuters by several diplomats)
said that as of Monday afternoon in Ivory Coast, it was “able to
confirm that no aircraft landed” that would meet the description of
Mi-24 attack helicopters.

However, the group
said there was a large military presence at Yamoussoukro on Monday,
indicating that they might be expecting such a delivery in the near
future.

“We’re trying to
figure out if this allegation is credible or not,” a council diplomat
told Reuters. “There’s a lot of confusion.” Diplomats said their
understanding was that the helicopters were being shipped in parts and
had not necessarily come directly from Belarus or with Minsk’s official
approval.

A post-election
power struggle between Mr Gbagbo and his rival Alassane Ouattara,
almost universally recognized as winner of a November 28 poll, risks
pushing the top cocoa grower back into full-blown civil war.

The 15-nation
Security Council had planned to discuss Mr Ki-Moon’s allegation on
Monday morning but they postponed those talks until there was more
information, council diplomats said.