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| Africa Subsaharan |
| African leaders fail to convince Gbagbo to quit |
| 2011-01-05 |
| [The Nation (Nairobi)] The special emissaries of the ECOWAS and African Union blocs left Côte d'Ivoire late on Monday without a deal about the withdrawal of outgoing President Laurent Gbagbo, said to be their road map. Before leaving the country, the President of Sierra Leone, member of the delegation told the press that "the discussions are ongoing" at 10:30 pm (local time and GMT). However about one hour earlier, one of the claimant of Cote d'Ivoire's presidency Alassane Ouattara said "discussions are over". The opposition leader made the declaration after a meeting with the envoys adding that he rejects "purely and simply" the elections evaluation committee Gbagbo proposed again to the hosts. For their second mission to Cote d'Ivoire in less than a week, the ECOWAS delegation which comprised the presidents of Benin, Cape Verde and Sierra Leone, was joined on Monday by Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga. The delegation first met with Mr Gbagbo who, refusing offers of amnesty and exile, rather proposed for another time an international committee to evaluate the elections. Before leaving for Ouattara's headquarters, Mr Odinga told journalists described the talks as "useful". "We came here as a joint delegation in order to have dialogue with a view to resolving the crisis in Côte d'Ivoire," he added. According to sources, apart from the evaluation committee, Mr Ouattara also refused to sit at the same table of his rival as suggested by the mediators. "We know Mr Gbagbo well. It is a strategy to gain time to buy weapons and recruit mercenaries," he also told the press at the end of the two hours talks with the joint delegation. Then the group went back to presidential palace where they had a second meeting with Mr Gbagbo. The three presidents and the Kenyan Prime Minister are due to report back Tuesday to ECOWAS chairman and Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan. |
| Posted by:Fred |