FORCES ALIGNED with Alassane Ouattara, the recognised leader of Ivory Coast, have ordered the closure of land, air and sea borders until further notice, according to an interior ministry statement.
Heavy weapons fire rang out in central Abidjan yesterday after Mr Ouattara’s forces brought their offensive to oust his rival Laurent Gbagbo to the country’s main city.
Mr Ouattara’s government ordered an overnight curfew and two sources said forces loyal to Mr Gbagbo had ceded control of Abidjan’s airport to United Nations peacekeepers. Mr Gbagbo has resisted international pressure to step down from the presidency after being defeated by Mr Ouattara, a former prime minister, in an election last November. Attempts by the African Union to mediate between the two camps have failed.
Mr Ouattara’s forces took the capital Yamoussoukro and the cocoa port of San Pedro earlier this week. It won a further victory yesterday when Mr Gbagbo’s army chief sought refuge in the South African embassy.
Mr Ouattara called on his rival’s remaining loyalists to switch sides to prevent further suffering. “I call on you to serve your country . . . It is time to join your brothers in the republican forces,” he said.
The disputed election that was meant to draw a line under the 2002-2003 civil war has instead reignited it, as rebels who control the northern half of the country and now back Mr Ouattara advanced south into Mr Gbagbo’s territory from all sides.
Until the push south this week, the worst of the violence had centred on Abidjan, where anti-Gbagbo insurgents, who do not necessarily support Mr Ouattara, have seized parts of town.
On Wednesday Mr Ouattara’s prime minister Guillaume Soro told French television: “Gbagbo has only a few hours to leave, otherwise we will march on Abidjan and it will become a lot more complicated for him.”
With concerns rising that Ivory Coast could be plunged into a protracted and bloody battle, the United Nations this week followed the European Union and United States in imposing sanctions against Mr Gbagbo and his leadership.
The UN resolution, proposed by France and Nigeria, made the first explicit call by the security council for Mr Gbagbo to stand down in favour of Mr Ouattara, whom the UN and almost all countries say won the presidential election.
It authorised a travel ban and an assets freeze against Mr Gbagbo, his wife and three of his closest associates.
At least 472 people have been confirmed killed since the standoff began, according to the UN, and a humanitarian crisis is worsening, with a million people displaced from Abidjan alone.– (additional reporting Reuters)