It looks like the discredited outgoing president of Cote d’Ivoire in West Africa is digging in his heels. Laurent Gbagbo, whom international agencies agree lost the election for president in November, denied he was negotiating conditions of his surrender and departure, in an interview with a French news channel.
Gbagbo has been trying to hang on ever since the UN and international observers certified that his opponent Alassane Ouattara was the winner of the elections.
Gbagbo’s statement comes after the UN Mission in Cote d’Ivoire (UNOCI) said Gbagbo forces and allies were deserting him.
The former Ivorian leader is reportedly holding out in a bunker below the Presidential Palace in Abijan, surrounded by forces loyal to Ouattara.
Since the beginning of the standoff last November, the UN Security Council and UNOCI have repeatedly condemned Gbagbo and his forces for targeting Ouattara supporters as well as the civilian population and have expanded the capabilities of international peacekeeping forces.
But France, Cote d’Ivoire’s former colonial power, has come under fire for the active military role its peacekeepers have taken over the past weeks.
French officials have maintained they are working in tandem with the United Nations and within the framework UN Security Council resolution 1975, which allows for the use of force to protect civilians and destroy heavy artillery in Cote d’Ivoire.
Yet Paris has seemingly taken the lead in interpreting and implementing the resolution. On Monday, French forces opened fire on the Presidential Palace where Gbabgo is believed to be hiding, an offensive the UN did not take part in.
Some have suggested it might be difficult to reconcile such military action with a Security Council mandate that focuses on civilian protection, rather than regime change.
Human rights organization estimate that fighting between both factions has displaced over 1 million from their homes, with tens of thousands of people seeking refuge in neighboring countries.
Over the weekend, the Red Cross Committee reported that the town of Duekoue had been the site of a large scale massacre believed to have been carried out by forces loyal to Ouattara. The number of casualties has yet to be confirmed, but initial reports from the Red Cross indicate that over 800 people were killed. Ouattara has since denied his forces were involved.