20110304
reuters

ABIDJAN/NOUAKCHOTT (Reuters) - Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo has paid over 60 percent of civil servant salaries, his government said on Friday, suggesting Western sanctions meant to starve him of funds and force him to leave have not had full effect.

The north of the country, which mostly supports Gbagbo's opponent Alassane Ouattara, remained without electricity and water service, but a week of clashes between supporters of the two rivals appeared to have eased.

There was little hope for African leaders meeting in Mauritania on Friday to quickly resolve the crisis, but one delegation member said the panel had the basis for agreement, following clear splits in opinons over what to do.

The world's top cocoa grower has been paralysed by Gbagbo's refusal to step down after a November election that internationally certified results showed Ouattara had won. The United Nations says at least 365 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes as a result.

Some 200,000 have left the Abidjan neighbourhood of Abobo alone during days of urban warfare last week. International cocoa futures have been regularly breaking new 32-year highs on supply fears due to the violence.

Gbagbo's government in a statement late on Thursday said it had paid the salaries of more than 60,000 civil servants, or about 62 percent of the salary roll.

As part of broader efforts to show the situation was under control, his government also opened the recently nationalised local unit of BNP Paribas, and customers rushed to withdraw cash that has dried up as the banking sector collapsed in recent weeks.

There have been two days of relative calm in the main city Abidjan and elsewhere after outbreaks of fighting led to warnings of a return to full-blown civil war.