ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast – Former Nigerian leader and mediator Olusegun Obasanjo left Ivory Coast early Monday as the country's incumbent president continued to defy the world and insist he had won the recent election.
Obasanjo, who came unannounced over the weekend, had driven back and forth between the presidency and a hotel across town where the internationally recognized winner Alassane Ouattara is barricaded.
Three other high-level delegations, including a mission last week by several African heads of state, have all failed to get sway incumbent Laurent Gbagbo to cede power.
Foreign embassies have ordered a majority of their staff to leave as anti-Western sentiment simmers. Gbagbo's regime continues to use the state broadcasting arm to denounce the "Franco-American plot" behind calls for his ouster.
On Monday, the U.S. Embassy held a meeting with American citizens and urged them to leave while commercial flights were still available, warning that the embassy would not be able to come get them from their homes if widespread violence breaks out.
"Pack your bags — we've packed ours," U.S. Consul Barbara Ensslin said.
Gbagbo has stubbornly refused to step down even though results released by the country's electoral body showed he had lost by a nearly 9-point margin to Ouattara. In recent days he has ordered the military to encircle the Golf Hotel where Ouattara and his staff took refuge, imposing a blockade. The only way in or out of the hotel is now via helicopter.
The purpose of Obasanjo's visit was to deliver the international community's message as forcefully as possible, and to offer Gbagbo an exile abroad and a monthly stipend if he chooses to step down, said an adviser to Ouattara who was briefed on the discussions.
The adviser spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. He also said the Obasanjo repeated the warning that Gbagbo will face a regional military ouster if he does not cede power. The 15-nation regional bloc ECOWAS has threatened to remove him by force if negotiations fail.
ECOWAS has previously mounted armed interventions in Sierra Leone and Liberia, though the move in Ivory Coast is controversial because the nation is a magnet for immigrants from other African countries. Gbagbo's government has insinuated that any armed move will prompt retaliatory attacks against foreigners living in the country.
Nigeria remains the lynchpin in the decision to mount a military ouster, since the country has one of the largest standing forces in West Africa.
Obasanjo holds weight in the region because he is a former military leader and voluntarily handed over power in the 1970s to a civilian-led, elected government. He has also been a top mediator, including in Ivory Coast, which had not held an election for 10 years due to a civil war and a subsequent political impasse.
No comments:
Post a Comment