Ivory Coast blog: The tide is turning..Laurent Gbagbo palace surrounded

[General Duke]

Rebel forces in Ivory Coast have laid siege to the presidential residence in Abidjan as the incumbent leader, Laurent Gbagbo, makes a desperate last stand to cling to power.

 

There was also fierce fighting around the state TV building which, after showing senior military officers pledge allegiance to the government, went off air on Thursday night.

 

Forces backing presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara have overrun nearly 80% of the country as soldiers fled and towns fell in quick succession. They look set for a final push but are encountering strong resistance at the fortified presidential residence.

 

Ouattara's spokesman, Patrick Achi, told Reuters: "His house is under attack. That's for sure. There is a resistance, but it's under attack.

 

"[Gbagbo] hasn't shown any signs of giving up. I don't think he will see the game is up, because he really believes God will save him ... Gbagbo is in his house. I'm certain. He hasn't gone anywhere."

 

The regular army put up almost no opposition during a four-day offensive, including in the ruler's hometown, where rebels said they broke into Gbagbo's compound and slept in his bed.

 

Some 50,000 soldiers, police and gendarmes have abandoned Gbagbo, according to the head of the UN mission, Choi Young-jin. "Only the Republican Guard and his special forces have remained loyal, guarding the palace and residence," he told France-Info.

 

Gunfire could be heard throughout Abidjan on Thursday, along with the concussive boom of heavy artillery. Reporters saw soldiers in camouflage race across the waterside highway in pickup trucks mounted with machine guns.

 

UN and French peacekeepers moved to secure Abidjan airport by sending armed elements and additional personnel there, a UN official in New York said. Sources said Gbagbo's forces requested the UN support to allow their withdrawal.

 

An internal UN report, seen by Reuters, also said pro-Gbagbo forces had abandoned a blockade of a hotel where Ouattara and his supporters have been camped for months. It said peacekeepers had exchanged fire with Gbagbo loyalists in several parts of the city.

 

As his forces amassed on the outskirts of Abidjan, Ouattara made a final appeal to Gbagbo to step down, and called on the rest of the army to defect. "[My fighters[ have come to restore democracy and ensure respect of the vote by the people," Ouattara said in an address broadcast on his private TV station. "Today they are at the doorstep of Abidjan.

 

"To all those who are still hesitating, whether you are generals, superior officers, officers, sub officers, rank and file ... there is still time to join your brothers in arms."

 

As the columns of pro-Ouattara forces advanced, the head of the army, general Phillippe Mangou, sought refuge at the home of the South African ambassador in Abidjan with his wife and five children, according to South Africa's foreign ministry.

 

Ouattara was declared the winner of last November's presidential election by the country's election commission in results verified by international observers. But after a decade in power, Gbagbo, a Sorbonne-educated history professor, refused to accept his loss.

 

He has used the military to attack pro-Ouattara areas with heavy artillery and is accused of arming citizen militias and recruiting foreign mercenaries to cling to power. Up to a million people have fled the fighting and at least 490 people have been killed since the election, most of them supporters of Ouattara. The true figure is believed to be far higher, with the Red Cross warning that casualties run into thousands.

 

Gbagbo has not been seen in public since this week's military offensive began, even though state TV announced on Wednesday that he was preparing to address the nation. Those who know him well say even an armed onslaught will not make Gbagbo cede power.

 

"He has no intention of resigning," said one of his advisers in Europe, Toussaint Alain. "He will not resign in the wake of this attack. He is not going to abdicate. He is not going to lay down his arms. He will stay in power to lead the resistance to this attack against Ivory Coast."

 

However, a senior diplomat who has been in contact with members of Gbagbo's inner circle told the Associated Press that a standoff appeared to be building between hardliners who want Gbagbo to fight to the end and others who are urging him to step down.

 

It is not clear what the pro-Ouattara fighters will do if they manage to reach the presidential palace. Ouattara's spokesman refused to speculate, but said the use of force was necessary because Gbagbo has frustrated all attempts to find a diplomatic solution.

 

"The end is almost here," Achi said. "It's a matter of hours. We issued our ultimatum yesterday ... If Gbagbo does not want the fighting to happen in Abidjan, he should surrender. If he doesn't, we have no choice."

 

Ouattara's "government" announced a three-day overnight curfew and ordered the closure of land, air and sea borders. There were widespread reports of looting.

 

On Thursday, the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, reiterated his demand that Gbagbo immediately cede power to Ouattara "to enable the full transition of state institutions to the legitimate authorities," said spokesman Farhan Haq.

 

In Washington, the leading US diplomat for Africa, Johnnie Carson, said Gbagbo needed to seize this last opportunity to step aside. "There is a clear indication that the military forces of Gbagbo have started to disintegrate," he said.

 

"The rapid pace at which Alassane Ouattara's forces have been able to move across the country from east to west and up to Abidjan suggests that there have been widespread desertions in the Gbagbo forces."

 

Ouattara's fighters are drawn largely from a rebel group based in the north of the country that launched a 2002 rebellion against Gbagbo. For more than three months, Ouattara refused to allow them to march on Abidjan. The advance was a last resort after all other diplomatic means had failed, Ouattara's supporters claim.

[General Duke]

 

Laurent Gbagbo is a classically educated academic turned opposition leader, now seen as just another African leader destroying his country by refusing to accept defeat at the ballot box.

 

After 20 years in opposition, he came to power in 2000, when military leader Robert Guei's attempts to rig elections were defeated by street protests by Mr Gbagbo's supporters in the main city, Abidjan.

 

Now, he is the one clinging to power after an election dispute and security forces loyal to him accused of firing at unarmed demonstrators in Abidjan.

 

Mr Gbagbo cut his political teeth in the trade union movement and he plays heavily on his reputation as the main opposition figure to former President Felix Houphouet-Boigny's one-party state.

 

He started out on the political left, but since the 1980s he has taken a strongly nationalist, even xenophobic, stance.

 

'Change your glasses'

 

Mr Gbagbo says the dispute is about a fight for Ivorian (and indeed African) sovereignty and accuses the French and Americans of having it in for him.

 

Ivory Coast is the nation blessed by God and neo-colonialists want to control it for its cocoa and oil fields, he says.

 

Gbagbo's Dates With History

1971: Jailed for "subversive teaching"

1982: Exile in Paris after union activism

1988: Returns to Ivory Coast

1990: Defeated in elections

1992: Jailed after student protests

2000: Declared winner of disputed elections

2002: Failed coup divides Ivory Coast

2007: Agrees power-sharing government with former rebels

2010: Elections held five years later. Refuses to go after UN says he lost

 

However, this ploy has not succeeded and the African Union has backed the UN's finding that Mr Gbagbo lost the November 2010 election and he should stand down.

 

He was accused of surfing on the wave of xenophobia which swept Ivory Coast during the rule of President Henri Konan Bedie.

 

Mr Bedie introduced the concept of "Ivoirite" (Ivorianness) to prevent Alassane Ouattara, a Muslim from the north, from standing in presidential elections in the 1990s.

 

Mr Gbagbo denied allegations of opportunism. "I have not changed," he said at the time. "You must change your glasses."

 

It now looks like Mr Ouattara, the UN-recognised winner of November's election, could have the last laugh, as his forces close in on the presidential palace in Abidjan.

 

Since the 2002 civil war broke out, Mr Gbagbo's supporters have been accused of carrying out xenophobic attacks in the areas they control - against those from the mainly Muslim north, immigrants from neighbouring African countries and Westerners.

 

They accused former colonial power France and the international community of not doing enough to put down the rebellion.

 

'Cicero'

 

Laurent Gbagbo was born into a Catholic family near Gagnoa, in the cocoa-growing centre-west of the country, nearly 60 years ago.

 

"Cicero", as he was nicknamed because of his taste for Latin during his schooldays, has a PhD in history.

 

Some say Mr Gbagbo's wife, Simone, is the real power behind the throne Beginning his career as a university lecturer, Mr Gbagbo was jailed for two years in 1971 for "subversive" teaching. His nom de guerre was "little brother".

 

In the 1980s he was involved in trade union activity among academics.

 

He was one of the first to challenge Ivory Coast's founding President Houphouet-Boigny in the 1980s, as soon as the long-serving independence leader permitted multi-party politics.

 

In 1982 he sought exile in Paris, returning six years later to attend the founding congress of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI).

 

His time as an opposition leader led to spells in jail and brushes with the authorities.

 

His wife, Simone, is a powerful politician in her own right and some see her as the real hardline power behind the throne, preventing her husband from giving up power.

 

The couple have two daughters.

 

'Good company'

 

After his election in 2000, Mr Gbagbo said he would break with the personality cult tradition, saying it was no longer necessary to put up portraits of the president in public places and offices.

 

He also said that the national media would no longer be obliged to mention the president in all news programmes.

 

But while he was in power, most news broadcasts highlight Mr Gbagbo's daily activities.

 

He has a reputation for being short-tempered, in particular against "arrogant" journalists, but he is also known for his contagious laughs and vigorous handshakes.

 

In person he has a broad smile and an easy laugh, and is a born communicator, frequently making use of metaphors from Ivorian daily life.

 

He is said to have a passion for music, guitar and good food.

 

"It is a pleasure to have him round for dinner," one of his friends was quoted as saying in Jeune Afrique-L'Intelligent magazine.

 

Still, the man who campaigned under the slogan "we win or we win", can be a stubborn political player and, his opponents claim, has links to violent militia groups like the students' union, the Fesci, the Young Patriots, and death squads, despite his reputation as a peaceful, Sorbonne-educated socialist.

 

The UN blames his militias for the worst violence against civilians.

 

He has also earned himself the nickname "the baker" for his ability to "roll his opponents in the flour", after showing an uncanny knack of coming out on top in any political tussle.

 

But he may now have met his match.

[General Duke]

Abidjan, Ivory Coast (dpa) - Ivory Coast rebels appeared poised to oust President Laurent Gbagbo Friday amid heavy fighting, following a lightning assault through the country and an attack on the economic capital Abidjan.

 

There was mystery over the whereabouts of Gbagbo. Reports that rebels had seized Gbagbo's residence could not be confirmed as attempts to contact members of Gbagbo's inner circle were unsuccessful.

 

France's ambassador to the Ivory Coast, Jean-Marc Simon, was quoted by France 24 as saying that Gbagbo was not in his residence, but was probably in the presidential palace.

 

Witnesses said Gbagbo's Republican Guard and northern rebels New Forces, which control the north of the country, backed by other military and operating under the new name Republican Forces of Cote D'Ivoire (FRCI), were exchanging shells and gunfire in the Cocody district, near Gbagbo's home.

 

However, many of Gbagbo's troops appeared to have deserted.

 

A military source, who asked not to be named, said: 'The gendarmerie and estimated number of 50,000 soldiers have abandoned their positions. Only the pro-Gbagbo Republican Guard and armed students, around 2,000 combatants, are still fighting to defend Gbagbo's residence'.

 

As the fighting continued, some 500 foreign nationals took refuge at a French peacekeeping base in the city.

 

Colonel Thierry Burkhard, spokesman for the armed forces, told the German Press Agency dpa that the group consisted mainly of French and Lebanese nationals living in the city's Zone IV, where many expatriates live.

 

The group took shelter at the French base of Port Bouet, near the airport.

 

'Some made their way there by themselves. Others who didn't have any means of getting there were evacuated by Licorne forces,' Burkhard said.

 

French troops stationed in Ivory Coast under Operation Licorne (Unicorn) are patrolling Zone IV and other parts of the city to protect foreign nationals and prevent looting.

 

Ivory Coast was plunged into unrest when Gbagbo refused to cede power to his rival Alassane Ouattara after November elections the United Nations says the president lost. However, serious military action by the rebel forces backing Ouattara only got underway in recent weeks after mediation efforts and sanctions failed to budge Gbagbo.

 

FRCI forces have already overrun Yamoussoukro, the nation's political capital and the city of San Pedro, the world's largest cocoa-exporting port.

 

Patrick Achi, a spokesman for Ouattara, said that the rebels have seized control of the state-run RTI, which had been broadcasting pro-Gbagbo propaganda. Outtara's government-in-waiting has also ordered the closure of all borders. RTI stopped broadcasting at 2245 GMT.

 

However, Achi said he did not believe Gbagbo had fled.

 

'(Gbagbo) hasn't shown any signs of giving up,' he said. 'I don't think he will see the game is up, because he really believes God will save him ... Gbagbo is in his house. I'm certain.'

 

Gbagbo has been abandoned by many of his close collaborators, who have sought refuge in foreign embassies in Abidjan. General Philippe Mangou, his chief of staff, is staying at the South African embassy with his family now, sources said.

 

In the meantime, many army generals have joined Ouattara.

 

'To those of you who are still hesitating - whether you are generals, officers or soldiers, I ask you to rejoin lawfulness, there is still time to join your brothers in arms, your country calls you,' Ouattara said in a statement.

[Somalina]

Dagaalada Ivory Coast oo kumanaan ruux ay ku dhinteen iyo Caasimada oo wali dagaalo ka socdaan

 

 

Kumanaan ruux ayaa ku dhintay dagaalada ka socda dalka Ivory Coast ee u dhaxeeya Taageerayaasha ninka Beesha Caalamka u aqoonsan yahay Madaxweynenimada dalkaas Xasan Alwatra iyo ninka ku dhegan kursiga Madaxtinimada Laurent Gbagbo.

 

Hey'adaha caalamiga ayaa soo warinaya in dad ku dhow 800-ruux ay ku dhinteen Magaalada dhanka galbeed Duekoue, kadib markii sida dadkaas faasas iyo baangado lala dhacay.

 

Dagaalada ka socda Caasimada Abidjan ayaa noqday kuwo jahwareer ah, iyadoo magaalada ku go'doonsan yihiin Malaayiin ruux oo meel ay ciirsadaan la'.

 

Ciidamada daacada u ah ninka caalamka aqoonsan yahay inuu ku guuleystay doorashadii November ayaa waxooga horumar ka sameynaya dagaalada, inkastoo iska caabin ay kala kulmayaan Ciidamada Mr Gbabgo.

 

Weerar lagu qaaday Ciidamada Nabad ilaalinta qaramada Midoobey ee Ivory Coast ku sugan ayaa waxaa ku dhaawacmay ilaa afar ka mid ah Ciidamadaas, markii Ciidamada daacada u ah Mr Gbagbo ay weerareen.

 

Hey'adaha xuquuqul Insaanka ayaa ka deyriya xaalada dalka Ivory Coast oo dagaalo qaraar ay ka soconayaan, iyadoo dagaaladaas hada isu badaleen mid sokeeye.

[Som@li]

Don't believe everything you hear, He may have won the election, and the West don't want him there,

 

There is so much involved, anyway, he should go long time ago to save his country.