Cote d’Ivoire: West African Leaders Urge Tougher UN Action
By Eric Sande
West African leaders called on the U.N. Thursday as part of its mission of peacekeeping in the Cote d'Ivoire deepening crisis, to tighten sanctions against defiant Laurent Gbagbo and his associates.
The leaders were meeting on a two day summit which ended Thursday under pressure to take action over Ivory Coast with Laurent Gbagbo defying their earlier threats to use force if he did not yield power in favour of his internationally recognised rival Alassane Ouattara.
The post-election violence had killed 52 people in the Ivory Coast in the past week, bringing the death toll this year to 462 says United Nations Operation in Ivory Coast (UNOCI) .
In its statement the regional bloc Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said it "requests the UN Security Council to strengthen the mandate of the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI), enabling the mission to use all necessary means to protect life and property, and to facilitate the immediate transfer of power to Mr Alassane Ouattara".
It added it’s request that " the UN Security Council to adopt more stringent international targeted sanctions against Mr Laurent Gbagbo and his associates".
The UN mission is said to be limited in taking any further action and the West African bloc lacks the ability to enforce sanctions if it were to approve them on its own, this is according to one observer earlier Thursday.
It has since come under fire for failing to protect civilians and Mr Ouattara's government has urged the UN Security Council "to authorise the immediate use of legitimate force to protect civilians in imminent danger".
On Thursday, besides urging the UN to take action, Ecowas said its member states should also accredit ambassadors from Mr Ouattara's government. It initially suspended Cote d'Ivoire from the bloc and recognized Mr Ouattara as president.
It said its commission should be prepared to assist with issues such as "the provision of humanitarian corridors and the protection of civilians".
The bloc called on the African Union to dispatch a high-level representative to Cote d'Ivoire, with a plan to designate someone already in the works.
Bloodshed has become a daily occurrence in Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, since dispute over the outcome of the Nov. 28 presidential polls sparked clashes between forces loyal to Gbagbo and those backing Ouattara.
The ECOWAS summit was attended by the presidents of Liberia, Senegal, Benin, Mali, Togo, Cape Verde, Sierra Leone and Burkina Faso, as well as representatives from other nations.