Laurent Gbagbo breaks long silence

  1. Posted on Wednesday 22 December 2010 - 10:52
    KingsleyKobo
    Image of KingsleyKobo
    Kingsley Kobo, AfricaNews reporter in Abidjan, Ivory Coast
    For the first time since he was sworn in, beleaguered President Laurent Gbagbo made a live radio and TV broadcast Tuesday night, assuring Ivorians "I am the president of Ivory Coast... I don't want any civil war here and I don't want the blood of any Ivorian to be spilled."
    Gbagbo
    He said he was ready to hold talks with rival Alassane Ouattara and wants the international community to organize “a post-election crisis” mediation.

    But Ouattara’s camp rejected the call without delay, saying it is another attempt to gain time and mislead the international community.

    Earlier on Tuesday, Ouattara’s Prime Minister Soro Guillaume called on Ivorian workers to stop taking orders from Gbagbo’s “illegitimate” government. Former President Henri Konan Bédié – Ouattara’s ally – on Tuesday implored Gbagbo to cede power and “let peace reign in the country.”

    ECOWAS

    The Economic Community of West African States has announced an urgent meeting slated for Friday in Abuja to “examine the recent developments in Ivory Coast and how to reach a collective decision,” said the 15-country bloc’s spokesperson Sunny Ugoh.

    ECOWAS has already suspended the Ivory Coast from the institution.

    U.S. sanctions

    The United States on Tuesday rolled out a visa ban on Gbagbo and 30 of his collaborators and their families, but no names were given, in accordance with American rules and regulations in regard to sanctions.

    The European Union has also imposed similar sanctions on Gbagbo and 18 of his very close collaborators.

    UN Human Rights

    The UN Human Rights council will be holding a special summit in Geneva, Switzerland on Thursday to examine the “massive violation of human rights in Ivory Coast” since the political crisis began two weeks ago.

    The council confirmed that more than 50 people were killed by bullets during the opposition street protest last Thursday. It also reported that about 200 people had been injured and some 100 had been abducted during curfew by pro-Gbagbo militias and regular forces.

    Gbagbo’s Interior Ministry has denied the charges.

Latest News

  1. OPINION: Welcome to African Green Revolution24/05For the past century and a half, Africa has tried various agricultural approaches without much success.
  2. Egyptians vote in historic election23/05Egyptians began voting freely on Wednesday for the first time to pick their president in a wide open election that pits Islamists against men who serv…
  3. Africa Day 2012 - a moment for reflection and…22/0525th May is Africa Day. For many years it has been a celebration of African unity. It dates back to 1963 when the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) …
  4. South Africa's African agenda21/05The Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Kgalema Mothlanthe paid a rare visit to Ghana in April at the invitation of John Dramani Mahama …
  5. Women struggle to rinse hunger, poverty stains21/05Just looking at her one clearly appreciates that she is old and frail therefore in need of support for food, clothing and shelter to live comfortably …
  6. Climate Climate change affects migratory birds…21/05Changes in the climate globally have affected the movement of both migratory and resident species of birds, Nature Uganda has said.
  7. Ghana: Foreign retailers cited for currency…18/05The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) is attributing the sharp depreciation of the Ghana cedi against major currencies to the illegal activiti…
  8. Kenya: Community radio brings succour to…18/05Korogocho, a slum in northeastern Nairobi with 100,000 inhabitants, had many of the ingredients for a political explosion similar to those that rocked…
  9. Veld fires 'flame' Zimbabwe's…16/05Over the years, Zimbabwe has experienced the scourge of veld fires destroying property worth thousands of dollars.
  10. Liberia commends ECOWAS for support14/05The induction training of pioneer Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Volunteers for Liberia kicked off in Monrovia, with the Deputy Mi…
  11. Vanishing Lake Chad puts 30m lives at risk14/05As you approach the Lake Chad basin from Maiduguri, in north-eastern Nigeria, the evidence of despair is telling.
  12. Heavy rains cause havoc in Kenya14/05Heavy Rainfall continued to wreak havoc across the country leading to the suspension of relief food in some parts of the country as most roads in Turk…
  13. Zimbabwe: Growth points lie dormant14/05The Zimbabwean government mooted the concept of growth points in the 1980s as a means of decongesting cities and towns.
  14. Sierra Leone improves in infant mortality11/05Sierra Leone has improved in infant mortality cases according to Save the Children- World Motherhood index 2012 report. The West Africa country descri…
  15. Zimbabwe: Resettled farmers fail to utilize…10/05Resettled farmers in Zimbabwe are failing to utilize land due to inadequate farming inputs and lack of resources.
News archive