Talks between African leaders and Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo have failed to resolve a bitter election dispute, so force is the only option left to remove him from office, his rival's camp said today.
African leaders ended meetings in Ivory Coast last night having failed to convince Mr Gbagbo to cede power to Alassane Ouattara, who is widely recognised as winner of a November 28th presidential election.
"No I don't think there was any progress. We are at the same point as we were last time, which is that he keeps refusing to leave," Patrick Achi, spokesman for Mr Ouattara's government, said.
"They didn't persuade him and they just left, but they had to do it to give peace a last chance. The only thing left is ... the military preparation," he added.
Mr Gbagbo's camp were not immediately available for comment.
Four leaders representing West African regional bloc Ecowas and the African Union (AU) met Mr Gbagbo for several hours in the afternoon before meeting Mr Ouattara in the lagoon-side hotel where he is holed up under guard of UN peacekeeping troops.
Rebels who still run the north of the country, seized during the 2002-3 war that divided the nation, have backed Mr Ouattara. Ecowas has also previously warned that it is prepared to use "legitimate force" to oust Mr Gbagbo if he does not step down.
"The next diplomatic shot might be after Ecowas has pre-positioned some heavy military muscle nearby and Gbagbo knows this is it," said a diplomat following the process.
Ecowas has previously sent a force into conflicts in Liberia and Sierra Leone. However, in these cases they were invited by governments in place and West African nations will be wary of being bogged down in fighting with Mr Gbagbo's soldiers.
Meanwhile, other concerns, including elections in Nigeria in April and the prospects of reprisal attacks on millions of their citizens in Ivory Coast, are likely to factor in decisions.
Yesterday's was the second visit by three West African heads of state - Benin's Boni Yayi, Sierra Leone's Ernest Bai Koroma and Cape Verde's Pedro Pires - who met Mr Gbagbo last week. Kenyan prime minister Raila Odinga joined them on the AU's behalf.
Asked if any face to face meeting between Mr Gbagbo and Mr Ouattara was possible, Mr Achi replied: "Never, ever. As long as he will not be recognised as the elected president of Ivory Coast, he will never meet with president Gbagbo."
While mediation was going on, armed conflict between rival tribes seen as being pro-Gbagbo and pro-Ouattara erupted in west Ivory Coast yesterday, killing at least three people and wounding many with gunshots, witnesses and a security official said.
It was not clear if the clashes between Mr Ouattara's Dioula tribe and the Gurer, seen as pro-Gbagbo, was election linked.
Over 170 people have been killed since the elections, which were meant to reunite a country and deliver a stable government that could reverse nearly a decade of economic stagnation.
Reuters