ABIDJAN, 14 February 2011: United Nations peacekeepers in Ivory Coast, where former president Laurent Gbagbo refuses to step down despite his electoral defeat, are crucial to preventing a possible resumption of civil war, and they will respond with force if attacked, the top UN envoy in the country said Monday.
The UN Operation in Ivory Coast (UNOCI) has the prime tasks of protecting civilians and guarding the Golf Hotel, where the internationally recognized winner of November’s run-off election, opposition leader Alassane Ouattara, and his Government are based in light of Mr. Gbagbo’s refusal to vacate the presidential palace, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative Y. J. Choi noted.
The election, with its results certified by the UN, was meant to be the culminating point in reunifying the West African country, which was split by civil war in 2002 into a Government-controlled south ruled from Abidjan, the commercial capital, and a rebel-held north governed from the city of Bouaké.
– But for (var det ikke for) our protection of the Golf (hotel), President Ouattara’s Government could be forced to move to Bouaké, and that would mean the division of the country and perhaps the resumption of the civil war, Mr. Choi said after meeting with the new president in the hotel.
Mr. Gbagbo has demanded the withdrawal of the 9.000-strong UNOCI.
Not only has the UN refused this but the Security Council last month, in a unanimous resolution adopted under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which allows for the use of force, authorized the immediate deployment of an additional 2.000 troops and three armed helicopters.
Meanwhile, Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of Ivory Coast’s disputed presidential election, has pledged to extend indefinitely the one-month ban on cocoa exports if rival Laurent Gbagbo has not left power by the time the restriction expires on 23 February.
The move could push cocoa prices (even) higher, since Ivory Coast is one of the worlds biggest cocoa-exporters.
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