20101219
africanews


International pressure on Ivory Coast incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo to cede power intensified on Friday after more than 20 opposition protesters were killed during Thursday’s demonstration meant to install new personnel at the state TV RTI, which is one of Gbagbo’s major weapons of administration.

President-elect Alassane Ouattara, who is still holed up in a four-star Abidjan hotel with his ministers, had called on his supporters to storm the state TV on Thursday, but the marchers were dispersed by heavily armed anti-riot squad who used teargas and live bullets on the civilians, according to Amnesty International and the Red Cross.

More than 20 people were killed and close to a 100 injured. The International Court of Justice has vowed to step in.

French President Nicholas Sakorzy on Friday declared at the European Union summit in Brussels, Belgium that “Laurent Gbagbo must leave before the end of the week or will face EU sanctions.”

AFP on Friday quoted US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley saying “The United States is prepared to impose targeted individual and state sanctions in concert with our partners, against President Gbagbo, his immediate family and circle of his relatives if he should continue to claim illegitimate power. The clock is ticking.”

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon reiterated calls on Gbagbo to resign, that his continuous resistance would be “a parody of democracy.”

Visa sanctions

The EU said it was completing a list of 18 personalities close to Gbagbo to be included on an earlier list of 11 people to face visa sanctions and account freezing. But Gbagbo’s name has been intentionally left out to “make room for an honourable stepping down of the incumbent Ivorian leader,” according the EU communiqué.

The EU earlier on Friday called on the Ivorian army to pledge allegiance to Ouattara. A London-based spokesman for Gbagbo Alain Toussaint said the EU call would aggravate the situation.

The African Union commission chairman Jean Ping arrived in Abidjan on Friday to deliver to Gbagbo a message from regional bloc ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), asking him to resign and handover power to president-elect Ouattara immediately.

But reports say Gbagbo rebuffed the message, proposing instead a post of vice president for Ouattara.

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has proposed military intervention to unseat Gbagbo and “restore democracy.”

The commercial city of Abidjan was calm all Friday, with no demonstration in sight despite calls from Ouattara Prime Minster Soro Guilllaume. Heavily armed security forces were seen at strategy places across the city. But in Grand Bassam, near Abidjan, police shot and killed a civilian and injured many during a protest in front of a police station by Muslim youths who accused the police of throwing teargas into a mosque during Friday prayers session, Reuters said.

Blé Goudé, Gbagbo’s far-right minister of youths and employment, told AFP that they “would defend Gbagbo with their last sweat and blood.”