Ouattara calls for Ivory Coast sanctions to be lifted
Ivory Coast's elected leader, Alassane Ouattara, asks the EU to lift sanctions on the main ports of the world's top cocoa producer
- guardian.co.uk,
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Ivory Coast's internationally recognised president, Alassane Ouattara, has called for an end to sanctions as he seeks to return the country to normal, despite a continuing military standoff with incumbent Laurent Gbagbo. Ouattara said his forces had blockaded Gbagbo inside the presidential residence in Abidjan and that he had asked the EU to lift sanctions on the main ports of the world's top cocoa producer. With Gbagbo refusing to step down, Ouattara - whom the UN declared the winner of last November's presidential election that was meant to draw a line under Ivory Coast's 2002-3 civil war - took the first steps towards assuming executive powers in a televised address. He promised to restore security and utilities, meet basic needs and pay salaries after five months of conflict in which thousands of people have died and residents of what was once West Africa's most prosperous country have been left without food and water. "I have asked that European Union sanctions on the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro and certain public entities, be lifted," Ouattara said in a speech broadcast on French television. Dealers say about 500,000 tonnes of cocoa are stuck in the country. "I have also asked the [West African] central bank, BCEAO, to reopen its branches in Ivory Coast, to ensure a resumption of operations in all banks so as to enable the payment of salaries and arrears in the shortest possible time," he said on the LCI channel. "As for the outgoing president, Mr Laurent Gbagbo, who has entrenched himself at the presidential residence in Cocody with heavy weapons and mercenaries, a blockade has been established around the perimeter to secure the inhabitants of the district," Ouattara said. Diplomatic and military efforts to oust Gbagbo have been met with fierce resistance. A week of fighting for control of the economic capital of Abidjan has overwhelmed hospitals with casualties, caused frequent powercuts and left residents scrambling to find food and water. "Every morning people have to take jerrycans to walk around the neighbourhood and search for water," Cocody resident Jean-Claude said. "As for food, there is nothing left. People have to queue up in long lines to buy even a single baguette." UN peacekeepers have surrounded Gbagbo's "last defenders", France said yesterday. The French defence minister, Gérard Longuet, said Gbagbo had about 1,000 men defending him, 200 of whom were inside the residence. A UN spokesman in Abidjan said UN forces were on standby. "We have sent a patrol to Cocody and the surrounding area, but it is not to intervene," UN spokesman Hamadoun Toure said. "I am not aware that Ouattara has requested our intervention at this stage." Helicopters from French forces and the UN peacekeeping mission bombarded Gbagbo's weapons stockpiles earlier this week, including those near his residence. Political analysts said Ouattara forces, who swept south last week in a lightly contested march toward Abidjan, could struggle to defeat Gbagbo's remaining presidential guard without French and UN help. Ouattara meanwhile said he had asked his generals to take all necessary steps to maintain order and security of goods, people and their movements and also to secure the delivery of food to markets and medicines to hospitals and health centres. He said steps would also be taken to shed light on all crimes committed during the conflict and that he would collaborate with international organisations to investigate human rights abuses and punish those found guilty. The prosecutor at the international criminal court said this week that he was in talks with West African states about referring alleged atrocities in the Ivory Coast to the court after a reported massacre in the west of the country. "We have established a national commission of inquiry whose findings will be made public and the perpetrators of crimes will be severely punished," Ouattara said. Gbagbo has ruled Ivory Coast since 2000 and blames Paris for supporting the north of the country in the 2002-2003 civil war. Rebels from that war now make up the bulk of Ouattara's force.
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