The Côte d’Ivoire crisis remains deadlocked, the leader of the Ecowas West African regional bloc said on Tuesday as talks were under way to press strongman Laurent Gbagbo to step down.
“There is still a stalemate,” Nigerian President and Ecowas head Goodluck Jonathan told reporters after meeting with envoys who met Gbagbo and his rival Alassane Ouattara on Monday.
Earlier on Tuesday it was reported that Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga had claimed that Ouattara and Gbagbo were prepared to meet, a claim that was swiftly denied by Ouattara aide Ali Coulibaly.
Odinga, who is also the African Union’s envoy in the West African nation’s deadly stand-off, had said after talks in Abidjan on Monday that the bitter rivals had agreed to a face-to-face meeting under certain conditions.
“This is completely false. This proposal was made by Odinga and we completely rejected it,” said Coulibaly, Ouattara’s diplomatic advisor.
Ouattara, holed up in an Abidjan resort hotel protected by United Nations peacekeepers since the disputed November 28 presidential run-off, repeated his demands of Gbagbo.
‘He must leave office as quickly as possible’
“One, that he must recognise the results of the Independent Electoral Commission, two, that I am the elected president, Ivory Coast’s legitimate president, three that he must leave office as quickly as possible,” he said.
Côte d’Ivoire’s Independent Electoral Commission as well as the United Nations declared Ouattara the winner, while the Constitutional Council said that Gbagbo won.
Both men have been sworn in as president and Gbagbo has said there is an international plot to depose him.
The mediators will now report back to Jonathan in Abuja.
Decision pending
Jonathan has said that Ecowas will decide by Tuesday how to handle the impasse, amid unconfirmed reports of mass graves filled with Ouattara supporters since November’s vote.
With the clock ticking, a senior US State Department official said that Gbagbo, who has relatives in Atlanta, Georgia, could seek refuge there, but that the offer would not last long.
“We want to see him leave. If he wishes to come here, we of course would entertain that as a means of resolving the current situation,” the official said, requesting anonymity.
“But any opportunity to do that is an opportunity that is rapidly closing because of what is happening on the ground, and every indication we have at this point is that he’s digging in,” the official said.
Gbagbo, who retains control of the army, rejected an Ecowas attempt last week to persuade him to step down and end the crisis that has sparked international condemnation and fears of a civil war. – Sapa-AFP