Pro-Gbagbo militia 'massacred civilians'

Talk about some sore losers.
Hey our guy lost lets go kill a bunch of People...Muslim outrage?

BBC
Some 200 people, mostly civilians, have been killed by retreating militiamen and Liberian mercenaries loyal to ousted Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo, officials say.

The killings happened last week in coastal communities as the fighters headed for the Liberian border, the defence department said.

The claim has not been independently verified.

Mr Gbagbo was last week questioned over alleged human rights abuses.

Ivory Coast's Gbagbo Detained by French Special Forces

Great news, one less murdering madman out of the way!

Now they just have to get Alassane Ouattara under arrest and they will have the other one!

Then they can start all over again!

Foxnews
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast -- Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo was detained by French special forces Monday at his presidential compound in the country's biggest city Abidjan, state-run radio France Info reports.

"Gbagbo has been arrested by French special forces in his residence and has been handed over to the rebel leaders," Gbagbo spokesman Toussaint Alain told Reuters.

His capture came after French and UN armored vehicles were deployed on a road close to Gbagbo's besieged Abidjan residence on Monday.

Ouattara forces have killed in Ivory Coast

So who would be the better leader of the Ivory coast?
The one who is saying he one the election and having his people go around and kill his opponents people or...
The one who won the election and is having his people go around and kill his opponents people.

That's a tough one.

DUEKOUE, Ivory Coast (AP) — A human rights group says that forces loyal to Ivory Coast's democratically elected president have killed hundreds of civilians, raped his rival's supporters and burned villages in the country's west.

Human Rights Watch, in a report obtained by The Associated Press late Saturday, calls on Alassane Ouattara to investigate and prosecute abuses by his forces and those supporting rival Laurent Gbagbo.

100 Bodies Found in Ivory Coast in 24 Hours

Ethnically Motivated Murders?
Confusing to say the least, seeing as how they are all from the same area in the same country!

But whatever the reason the slaughter goes on.


VOA
United Nations officials say investigators have found more than 100 bodies in western Ivory Coast in the past 24 hours.

A spokesman for the U.N. human rights agency said bodies were found in more than one location and most of the deaths seemed to be "ethnically motivated."

On Thursday, Ivory Coast's internationally recognized President Alassane Ouattara asked all Ivorians to refrain from acts of violence.

In a televised speech, Ouattara said his forces have set up a blockade around the presidential compound in Abidjan, where his rival Laurent Gbagbo is barricaded.

Laurent Gbagbo 'to surrender within hours'

Maybe an end to the slaughter in the Ivory Coast.
About a thousand were Killed just last week alone, one of the preferred methods of killing, Being hacked to bits with a Machete.
How many have been killed overall, we may never know but


BBC
A British man in Ivory Coast describes being trapped in his home

Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo, besieged in his presidential compound in Abidjan, is still negotiating his departure with the UN and could surrender "within hours", France says.

However the French armed forces chief said military strikes against Mr Gbagbo could resume if he refused to go.

Mr Gbagbo is encircled by troops loyal to the recognised winner of November's disputed election, Alassane Ouattara.

Mr Gbagbo has denied he is surrendering saying he is only negotiating a truce.

French Armed forces chief Adm Edouard Guillaud told Europe 1 radio that Mr Gbagbo had twice been on the point of stepping down - on 1 April and 4 April - before pulling back.

He said negotiations with the UN had continued through the night without result.

"Unfortunately I can't see a way out for the time being, I think it's a matter of hours... in the course of the day," he said.

"He is locked in the [presidential] residence and it remains in the possession of his supporters."

Ivory Coast: Presidential residence 'taken' in Abidjan

Another thousand people or so to be slaughtered this week?

BBC
Forces loyal to Ivory Coast's UN-recognised president say they have captured the besieged incumbent's residence in the main city of Abidjan.

Alassane Ouattara's spokesman said his troops had overrun the home of Laurent Gbagbo, who refuses to step down, though his whereabouts are unclear.

Heavy weapons fire rocked the city early on Tuesday.

Hours earlier, UN and French helicopters attacked targets around the presidential residence.

Mr Ouattara's representative in Paris, Ali Coulibaly, told French media that Mr Gbagbo was now negotiating his surrender.

800 die in Ivory Coast ethnic violence'

And the one Place on the Earth nobody is paying attention to, is way out of control.
The Ivory Coast has been in turmoil for months now, every since their elections back in December or so of last year.
Who needs Cocoa any way.

BBC
At least 800 people are reported to have been killed in the Ivory Coast city of Duekoue this week, as rival forces continue to battle for power.

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) staff visited Duekoue and said the scale and brutality of the killings were shocking.

The city was captured by fighters supporting UN-recognised president Alassane Ouattara this week.

His forces have ringed Laurent Gbagbo's troops in the main city, Abidjan.

Mr Ouattara was internationally recognised as president after winning a run-off vote in November, but Mr Gbagbo also claimed victory and refused to leave office.

UN condemns attack in Ivory Coast

And the Ivory coast still in turmoil!


Boston.com
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — The United Nations yesterday blamed forces loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo for a mortar attack a day earlier that left at least 25 people dead.

UN officials said they were investigating the attack, which they said could be a crime against humanity.

Gbagbo’s refusal to cede power after apparently losing his reelection has sparked the crisis.

The UN said in a statement that at least six mortar shells were fired from a nearby military base. About 40 people were wounded. Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s biggest city, has for weeks seen daily battles that have left hundreds dead.

Fresh gun battles erupt in Ivory Coast's main city

The Ivory Coast? Just another African State that is in turmoil.

(Reuters) - Gunfire and explosions shook Ivory Coast's main city Wednesday as forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo pushed back into an area where gunmen backing his presidential rival repelled them a day before.

"There's firing everywhere. I'm hearing heavy weapons booming all over the place," said one resident of the Abidjan suburb of Abobo, where up to 15 Gbagbo loyalists were killed in an ambush Tuesday.

The clashes between Gbagbo's forces and backers of Alassane Ouattara, following a disputed election in November, threaten to reignite a conflict in the world's biggest cocoa producer and dash hopes of reuniting a country split by a 2002-3 war.

Residents said the fighting stopped after four hours of intense clashes. Pro-Gbagbo forces reported three men killed while there was no immediate comment from Ouattara supporters.

U.N. to send more peacekeepers to Ivory Coast

Civil war anyone? If the Ivory coast ever pops it is going to be a mess, and the U.N. will loose control so fast it will make your head spin.

"allegations that the armed forces and militia groups that back opposing camps in the current political crisis are arming ethnic groups allied to each camp."


The Washington Post
UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Wednesday to reinforce the U.N. mission in Ivory Coast with 2,000 additional peacekeepers, escalating an international campaign to pressure the country's longtime ruler to step down from power.

The council's action came as another round of African Union mediation failed to dislodge Prime Minister Laurent Gbagbo, who was defeated Nov. 28 in a U.N.-certified runoff election by opposition leader Alassane Ouattara.

U.N. officials warned that the ethnically divided West African country - which emerged only seven years ago from a bloody civil conflict between Gbagbo's army and rebel forces - could return to war.

"We remain gravely concerned about the possibility of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and ethnic cleansing in Cote d'Ivoire,"

Toll in Ivory Coast rises to 247 dead

"This isn't possible. We are against all forms of violence," Gbagbo's government spokesman Ahoua Don Mello said by telephone. "Our forces are professional. They are there to keep order."

Yeah Right!

Knowing that the U.N. is not truthful, and likes to hide the reality of any situation they are in;I'm sure this death toll is much Higher.




(Reuters) - At least 247 people have been killed in violence in Ivory Coast since its disputed November 28 presidential election, the United Nations human rights office said on Friday.

The death toll is up from 210 a week ago, U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a media briefing in Geneva.

The latest figure includes four civilians and seven police killed in clashes in the Abidjan suburb of Abobo this week, and was firmly denied by the camp of incumbent Laurent Gbagbo.

"This isn't possible. We are against all forms of violence," Gbagbo's government spokesman Ahoua Don Mello said by telephone. "Our forces are professional. They are there to keep order."

Ivory Coast on brink of "genocide,"

When Politics go wrong.

The U.N., Whether they go in or not; Mr.Gbagbo will likely wreak havoc on the Ivory coast.


(Reuters) - Political unrest following Ivory Coast's disputed presidential election has brought the West African country to the "brink of genocide," its new ambassador to the United Nations said.

World leaders have stepped up pressure on Laurent Gbagbo to quit in favor of Alassane Ouattara, widely recognized as having won the vote.

Youssoufou Bamba, appointed as ambassador to the United Nations by Ouattara, described him as the rightful ruler of Ivory Coast.

"He has been elected in a free, fair, transparent, democratic election. The result has been proclaimed by the independent electoral commission, certified by the U.N.," Bamba told a news conference on Wednesday.

"To me the debate is over, now you are talking about how and when Mr. Gbagbo will leave office," Bamba said.

He said there had been a "massive violation of human rights," with more than 170 people killed during street demonstrations in Ivory Coast.

"Thus, one of the messages I try to get across during the conversations I have conducted so far, is to tell we are on the brink of genocide. Something should be done," Bamba told journalists.

14,000 flee Ivory Coast, says UN

A Gbagbo adviser has said he does not believe their supporters are behind the attacks.





Press association
At least 14,000 people have fled the violence and political chaos in Ivory Coast, some walking for up to four days with little food to reach neighbouring Liberia, the UN refugee agency said. At least one child drowned while trying to cross a river.

The UN has said at least 173 people have died in violence over the disputed presidential run-off election held nearly a month ago. The toll is believed to be much higher, though, as the UN mission has been blocked from investigating other reports including an allegation of a mass grave.

"Food supplies are running short despite efforts by the government and humanitarian agencies to bring in more assistance," the UN refugee agency said in a statement. "Our staff report that host community houses are full and congested. In the area of Butuo, for example, there are homes where seven to 20 family members share a single room, while others sleep in corridors or on verandas."

West African leaders have threatened a military intervention if the man who the UN says lost the election in Ivory Coast does not step down. James Gbeho, president of the regional bloc Ecowas, said the group was making an "ultimate gesture" to Laurent Gbagbo to urge him to make a peaceful exit.

Mr Gbagbo has shown few signs that he plans to go, and his security forces have been accused of being behind hundreds of arrests, and dozens of cases of disappearance and torture in recent weeks. A Gbagbo adviser has said he does not believe their supporters are behind the attacks.

Ivory Coast violence has killed nearly 200 - U.S.

So what is anybody gonna do ?
The Military is backing Gbagbo, the mess is just getting worse.
The U.N. will definitely fail at this one, Military action is just not going to cut it here.


Dec 23 (Reuters) - Nearly 200 people have been killed in violence that has followed last month's disputed presidential election in Ivory Coast, the United States told the U.N. Human Rights Council on Thursday.

"We have credible reports that almost 200 people may have already been killed, with dozens more tortured or mistreated, and others have been snatched from their homes in the middle of the night," U.S. ambassador Betty E. King said.

Gbagbo ally warns of UN rebellion

"If, against our will, they want to keep this force in our country, we won't co-operate with them.

"And if they choose to have authorities other than the legal authorities of the country, they become part of the rebellion."


On the Horizon for the U.N., FAILURE.


BBC
An ally of Ivory Coast's incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo has warned UN peacekeepers they could be treated as rebels if they remain in the country after being told to leave.

Mr Gbagbo accuses the UN of siding with his rival Alassane Ouattara and ordered them out of the country.

The UN says Mr Ouattara won last month's poll and has urged all parties to recognise him as president.

It has extended the mandate of its 10,000-strong force by six months.

UN begins evacuating personnel out of Ivory Coast

Useless Nitwits, (U.N.) nice they come in to help, But when the going LOOKS tough;they turn and run the other way!


ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Hundreds of residents have fled Ivory Coast, United Nations officials said Tuesday, as the U.N. also began evacuating some 500 staffers after a contentious election that resulted in both candidates claiming the presidency.

U.N. Development Program country director Andre Carvalho said hundreds of people have fled to neighboring countries, and that officials feared more would leave if violence broke out.

"While there has not been any major violence, people have started fleeing into Ghana and Liberia," he said.