- Title: NIGERIA: West African states threaten intervention in Ivory Coast crisis
- Date: 26th December 2010
- Summary: ABUJA, NIGERIA (DECEMBER 24, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ECOWAS LEADERS ARRIVING FOR MEETING DELEGATES SITTING DURING MEETING (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) ECOWAS CHAIRMAN, AND NIGERIAN PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN DURING MEETING JOURNALISTS DURING MEETING ECOWAS CHAIRMAN, AND NIGERIAN PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN SPEAKING (INCOMPREHENSIBLE) VARIOUS OF THE MEETING (SOUNDBITE) (English) VICTOR GBEHO, PRESIDENT OF ECOWAS SAYING: "The heads of state and government, regret the fact that the message sent by the ECOWAS chairman on behalf of the authority of 17th December 2010 has not been heeded by Mr Gbagbo. In this season of peace the summit decided to make an ultimate gesture to Mr Gbagbo by urging him to make a peaceful exit, in this regard the authority decided to dispatch a high level delegation to Cote D'Ivoire. In the event that Mr Gbagbo fails to heed this immutable demand of ECOWAS, the community will be left with no alternative but to take other measures including the use of legitimate force to achieve the goals of the Ivorian people." MORE OF ECOWAS LEADERS DURING THE MEETING
- Embargoed: 10th January 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Nigeria, Nigeria
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVAAUMO0NNSU8JQ763T7Q29KSV83
- Story Text: West African heads of state threatened on Friday (December 24) to use force to oust incumbent Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo unless he cedes power to a rival widely credited with having won a presidential election.
A violent stand-off over the result of the vote has killed nearly 200 people and threatens to tip the west African state, the world's top cocoa producer, back into civil war.
After a meeting in Nigeria to discuss the Ivory Coast crisis, leaders of the regional bloc ECOWAS said they would send an envoy to tell Gbagbo, who has been president for a decade, that he must step down or face "legitimate force".
World powers and African states have heaped political and financial pressure on Gbagbo to relinquish power after the November 28 vote in which electoral commission results showed he lost by 8 points to rival Alassane Ouattara.
"In the event that Mr Gbagbo fails to yield this imputable demand of ECOWAS (to stand down), the community will be left with no choice but to take other measures, including legitimate force," a communique released by ECOWAS said.
The 15-nation West African bloc also said it would convene a meeting of member states' defence chiefs of staff to plan for potential action, should Gbagbo not bow out.
The United States and European Union have imposed travel sanctions on Gbagbo and his inner circle, while the World Bank and the West African central bank have cut off his funding in an attempt to pressure him to step down.
But Gbagbo has shown no sign of caving in. He insists he won the election after the Constitutional Court, which is headed by one of his allies, threw out hundreds of thousands of votes from pro-Ouattara constituencies. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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