UN advisers expressed grave fears on Thursday about ethnic violence in Ivory Coast after its disputed presidential election and the Ivory Coast’s new ambassador to the UN said that the West African nation was “on the brink of genocide.”
The two advisers reported signs “some leaders there are inciting violence between different elements of the population” during a standoff between defiant Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo and presidental claimant Alassane Ouattara after elections that were supposed to heal wounds of a civil war in 2002-2003.
“Given the history of internal conflict in Cote d’Ivoire such actions are highly irresponsible,” a UN statement quoted Francis Deng and Edward Luck as saying.
PHOTO: AFP
Deng said allegations that the Abidjan homes of political opponents of Gbagbo had been marked to identify their ethnicity were extremely worrying.
The advisers cited unconfirmed reports “of serious human rights violations by supporters of Mr Laurent Gbagbo and by forces under his control, as well as the use of inflammatory speech to incite hatred and violence.”
World leaders have stepped up pressure on Gbagbo to quit in favor of Ouattara, who is widely recognized as having won the vote on Nov. 28 in the world’s top cocoa growing nation.
Ouattara and his advisers are holed up in the Golf Hotel in Abidjan, protected by UN peacekeepers known as the UN Operation in Cote d’Ivoire (UNOCI).
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was “deeply alarmed” by reports that a member of Gbagbo’s government has called for an assault on the hotel today, his office said.
“Any attack on the Golf Hotel could provoke widespread violence that could reignite civil war,” the statement said, adding UNOCI was “authorized to use all necessary means” to protect itself, Ouattara’s group and civilians at the hotel.
A delegation of three West African leaders will return to Ivory Coast next week to try to persuade Gbagbo, president since 2000, to cede power or risk facing “legitimate force.”
The dispute over the election results has provoked lethal street clashes and threatens to restart open conflict.
It has also pushed up cocoa futures to four-month highs on fears the turmoil could eventually disrupt exports.
Ivory Coast’s Eurobond hit a record low last week on concern it would not meet a nearly US$30 million bond payment due yesterday
Deng, special adviser on the prevention of genocide, and Luck, who holds the same position on the “responsibility to protect,” did not directly refer to the possibility of genocide or identify any ethnic groups that might be under threat.
However, Youssoufou Bamba, appointed as ambassador to the UN by Ouattara, voiced deep concern.
“We are on the brink of genocide,” he told reporters in New York. “Something should be done.”
Bamba said more than 170 people had been killed in street protests, adding he aimed to meet all 15 members of the UN Security Council.
The UN General Assembly last week recognized Ouattara as Ivory Coast’s legitimate president. However, the incumbent president shows no signs of giving in after the election results were overturned by the country’s top court, run by a Gbagbo ally, over allegations of fraud.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number