Cote d’Ivoire: Ouattara’s Plea for Peace After Gbagbo Arrest

By Staff Writer

ABIDJAN---Alassane Ouattara, Cote d'Ivoire's internationally recognised president, on Monday evening, called for peace to the Ivorians and asked them  to  "refrain from any act of reprisal or violence. I invite you to calm and restraint," he said in his first speech after the arrest of his rival, former President Laurent Gbagbo.

He added that the country was at the dawn of a new era of hope.

Ouattara won the 2010 November presidential election according to UN-certified results. He  can finally begin asserting his authority over the West African country after his predecessor Laurent Gbagbo was captured on Monday, ending more than four months of stand-off that descended into all-out conflict. He announced on his television, launching a "proceeding against Laurent Gbagbo, his wife and all. "All arrangements are made" for their "physical," he added.

The most immediate challenges he is facing is to calm the fighting which analyst say it may not be enough to end the civil war that has bloodied the world's top cocoa grower.

In the commercial capital Abidjan,  people have been trapped in their homes with little food or water as fighting raged for 10 days. Dwindling supplies as well as frequent power cuts and a shortage of medicines have fuelled fears of a humanitarian disaster unless authorities can act swiftly.

The French government announced on Monday it would give Ivory Coast 400 million euros in financial aid to help residents and restart public services in Abidjan. The World Bank said it hoped it could move forward on writing off the country's debt.

The Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the call from Mr. Ouattara to the establishment of a commission for truth and reconciliation, designed to investigate allegations of massacres and other crimes by both warring parties in Côte d'Ivoire. Mr. Ban also reiterated emphatically "the president Ouattara any further bloodshed would be avoided, now that Mr Gbagbo is in the hands of presidential forces," and the "need to ensure there will be no reprisals against supporters of Mr Gbagbo.

Ouattara said he had asked his police and gendarmerie forces as well as UN and French troops to help restore security.