West African Leaders Meeting on Ivory Coast Political Crisis
Scott Stearns | Abidjan 07 December 2010
West African leaders met in Nigeria Tuesday to discuss a deepening political crisis in Ivory Coast. Rival presidents have competing governments following a controversial election that was meant to reunite the country.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan says regional leaders are meeting in Abuja to discuss how the Economic Community of West African States can help resolve the crisis in Ivory Coast.
Neither of Ivory Coast's would-be presidents was invited to the summit, which includes leaders from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo.
The regional alliance has been in contact with former South African president Thabo Mbeki who was here in Abidjan on behalf of the African Union for two days of separate talks with Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara.
Gbagbo says he is the president because Ivory Coast's constitutional council annulled nearly 10 percent of all ballots cast last month, giving him 51 percent of the vote. Ouattara says he is the president because the United Nations certified the original electoral commission results that show him winning 54 percent of the vote.
Both men have named new prime ministers and have the support of rival armed forces. Gbagbo is supported by senior military officers who control southern regions. Ouattara is
supported by former rebels who control northern regions.
Those rebels say they will resume their fight if Gbagbo does not step down for Ouattara. Soldiers are manning checkpoints across Abidjan. The United Nations is moving more than 400 non-essential personnel to Gambia.
The threat that this political crisis poses for regional stability tops the West African leaders' agenda and is a concern shared publicly by the United Nations and European Union.
The first sign of the conflict's regional impact is the arrival of refugees in neighboring Liberia.
Morris Nelson works for the Liberian refugee agency. He says more than 600 people have crossed the border into Nimba County since late last week.
"At the moment we are building tents where these refugees can seek refuge for the meantime. But what is more alarming is that these Ivorians do not have any food to eat," Nelson said. "So we are calling on humanitarian organizations like the WFP to hurriedly come in to provide support to these Ivorian refugees."
Sutue Dueo left Ivory Coast because she does not know what will happen there.
"My heart is just burning and I am weeping inside of me because I love so much my country," she said.
Refugee Solomon Weh says he has putting his faith in God.
"I don't really know what is going to happen over there. I can't think for me to go back over there again," he said.
Political instability in the world's largest cocoa producer saw cocoa futures reach four-month highs Tuesday on both London's futures exchange and New York's Board of Trade.
The World Bank and the African Development Bank are reassessing development assistance to Ivory Coast because of what they call a breakdown of governance.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
