The Ivorian leader refusing to cede power has warned international journalists that they would be considered accomplices to terrorists if they don’t do a “more balanced” job of reporting the country’s political crisis, while the UN peacekeeping mission raised the alarm about the use of heavy weapons against civilians.
In a statement read on state television, Ahoua Don Mello, a spokesman for sitting president Laurent Gbagbo, accused journalists of fabricating last week’s shelling of civilians in an Abidjan neighborhood. The UN said the attack could constitute a crime against humanity.
Gbagbo also accused the media of refusing to report atrocities committed by forces loyal to his opponent, Alassane Ouattara, in the western part of the country.
He warned the press that if they didn’t do a “better job” of -reporting, they would be dealt with like the UN peacekeepers, who have been repeatedly attacked by pro-Gbagbo mobs.
Meanwhile, the UN peacekeeping mission in the country raised the alarm on Tuesday about heavy weapons, including machine guns and mortars, being used against civilians in the bloody post-election dispute.
The UN also blasted an “unacceptable” shortfall in aid for the west African country as thousands flee growing unrest that has left at least 440 people dead since November elections that both Ouattara and Gbagbo claim to have won.
The UN Operation in Ivory Coast (UNOCI) has been accused of failing to protect civilians from clashes between forces backing widely recognized president Ouattara and those of strongman Gbagbo, who refuses to give up power.
UNOCI said it was “extremely concerned about the increased use of heavy weapons, including machine guns and mortars, by the Special Forces loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo’s camp against the civilian population in Abidjan.”
In a statement, it added: “Recently, the mission has observed that this camp is repairing an MI-24 attack helicopter in the military wing of Abidjan airport and is also getting BM21 multiple rocket launchers ready in Abidjan.”
The use of heavy weapons against civilians could lead to charges of crimes against humanity, it said.
The UN last week documented the deaths of up to 30 civilians when Gbagbo’s security forces launched mortar attacks on a market in Abidjan.
The violence was to take center stage at an Abuja summit yesterday and today of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has threatened military intervention against Gbagbo unless he steps aside.
Ivory Coast was suspended from ECOWAS in December when the bloc recognized Ouattara as president and threatened the use of force if Gbagbo did not step down peacefully.
In an open letter on Tuesday to ECOWAS leaders, the International Crisis Group (ICG) urged the creation of a military mission to protect civilians, warning an impending civil war could involve “ethnic cleansing and other mass atrocity crimes.”
The think tank said ECOWAS should offer Gbagbo a final chance for a peaceful departure “while actively preparing to oust his regime by all necessary means before it is too late.”
“Daily attacks on civilians, including reports of forced disappearances, rapes and torture, continue, and the death toll far exceeds the UN’s confirmed count of 440 dead,” the ICG letter read. “Cote d’Ivoire is no longer on the brink of civil war; it has already begun.”
Ouattara’s government has urged the UN Security Council “to authorize the immediate use of legitimate force to protect civilians in imminent danger,” charging that the 10,000-strong UNOCI is not doing enough to protect them.
Spokesman Hamadan Toure defended the mission, which is expecting reinforcements of 2,000 soldiers.
“UNOCI is doing all it can, according to its mandate and resources, to protect the population,” he said.
The mission also faces a barrage of criticism from Gbagbo’s camp, which has demanded it leave the country, accusing it of bias towards Ouattara, and which regularly vilifies the force in state media as the “enemy of Ivory Coast.”
As a result, UN vehicles have been burned and its “blue helmets” targeted by Gbagbo supporters.
The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva, meanwhile, slammed an “unacceptable” funding shortfall, saying it had received only US$7 million of the US$32 million for the Ivory Coast that it had appealed for in January.
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