IVORY COAST: Ouattara spokesman calls on Gbagbo forces to surrender and promises there will be "no witch-hunt" against defeated rivals

Record ID: 181579

  • Title: IVORY COAST: Ouattara spokesman calls on Gbagbo forces to surrender and promises there will be "no witch-hunt" against defeated rivals
  • Date: 6th April 2011
  • Summary: ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (APRIL 5, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS (3 SHOTS) OF FRENCH ARMOUR CROSSING BRIDGE (FILMED THROUGH WINDOW)
  • Embargoed: 21st April 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: War / Fighting,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3XJ35BU8HP5Z3YRS7S54960LG
  • Story Text: Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo said on Tuesday (April 5) that the Ivorian army had called for a ceasefire but he denied reports he was ready to surrender and reiterated that he considered himself the winner of last November's elections.
    "The army has called for the suspension of hostilities ... and it is currently discussing the conditions of a ceasefire with the other forces on the ground, but on a political level no decision has yet been taken," Gbagbo said in a telephone interview with France's LCI television.
    Gbagbo was said to be in Abidjan, with some media reports saying he was in a bunker below his residence.
    A military spokesman for Alassane Ouattara issued a statement on the pro-Ouattara channel, TCI, on Tuesday in which he appealed to Gbagbo forces to "lay down their arms," promising there would be "no witch-hunt."
    "The soldiers and former forces of defence and security are invited to put themselves at the disposal of the republican forces of Ivory Coast. There will be no witch-hunt. The republican forces are organising themselves at present to assure the security of all neighbourhoods that are prey to looting and abuses," said Captain Leon Alla Kouakou.
    U.S. President Barack Obama called on Gbagbo to stand down immediately and order his fighters to lay down their arms.
    Over the past week, forces loyal to Ouattara had launched a major assault on Gbagbo's last strongholds in Abidjan, driving home their campaign to oust him.
    A Reuters eyewitness reported that calm had returned to the district surrounding the presidential palace after days of fierce machinegun and heavy weapons fire. French tanks and several armoured personnel vehicles were seen crossing Abidjan bridges formerly held by forces loyal to Gbagbo.
    The U.N. peacekeeping force in Ivory Coast, supported by the French military, had targeted Gbagbo's heavy weapons capabilities on Monday with attack helicopters after civilians were killed in shelling.
    The United Nations human rights office in Geneva has expressed concern over the killings of dozens of civilians in the Ivorian capital, amid reports of heavy weapons used in populated areas.
    Gbagbo had defied international pressure to give up the presidency after an election last November that U.N.-certified results showed Ouattara won, rejecting the results as fraudulent and accusing the United Nations of bias.
    More than 1,500 people are reported to have died in the standoff that has rekindled the country's 2002-03 civil war, though the real toll is likely to be much higher.
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