Côte d'Ivoire's Gbagbo rejects Kenyan as mediator
Côte d’Ivoire’s incumbent Laurent Gbagbo will no longer accept Kenya Prime Minister Raila Odinga as mediator in his election row with Alassane Ouattara because he is biased, Gbagbo’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.
Odinga cut short a visit to Côte d’Ivoire aiming to end a violent dispute between the two men over who won a November 28 poll. At the airport, Odinga said Gbagbo had twice broken a promise to lift a military siege on Ouattara’s hotel and warned Gbagbo he faced sanctions or military force if he refused to step down.
“Mr Odinga has failed in his mission and we are no longer prepared to receive him,” Gbagbo’s foreign minister Alcide Djedje told a news conference.
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“He was not willing to seek a durable solution ... He took the side of Mr Ouattara.” —Reuters
