Gbagbo loyalists 'no longer a threat' in Ivory Coast (AFP)

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – Elements loyal to former Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo are no longer a threat to peace and order in the West African nation, the UN mission chief said on Monday.

"By and large, the ex pro-Gbagbo elements and their supporters are not likely to mount substantial challenges to law and order -- a painful chapter of history in Cote d'Ivoire has been closed," said Choi Young-Jin, who heads the UN mission known as UNOCI.

Choi told the Security Council that the meltdown of Gbagbo supporters "augurs well for the achievement of reconciliation in the country."

The diplomat said that despite the fading of Gbagbo forces, there remains "a need for a rapid restoration of law and order" as a precondition of reconciliation and economic recovery.

He added that in the western part "we see a certain deficit of security" but that "most experts are of the view that there is a positive (economic) recovery in the country."

Choi said the United Nations would work with Ivory Coast on organizing legislative elections set for later this year.

Separately, the Ivory Coast ambassador to the UN, Youssoufou Bamba, indicated that the country "is progressively returning to normal."

Of the estimated 200,000 people displaced by the conflict before the installation of elected President Alassane Ouattara, 60,000 have returned home, while 140,000 are still refugees, many in camps along the Liberian border, according to Bamba.

An estimated 3,000 people died during the standoff after Gbagbo refused to cede power after elections in November won by Ouattara, who was finally inaugurated May 21.

Gbagbo was captured in an underground bunker in Abidjan on April 11 by forces loyal to Ouattara, backed by France and the UN.

Yahoo! News

Gbagbo party to shun Ivory Coast government (Reuters)

ABIDJAN (Reuters) – Ivory Coast's former ruling party acknowledged on Wednesday that President Alassane Ouattara had won November's disputed election, but said it would not join a unity government until ex-president Laurent Gbagbo was freed.

The party's interim president, Mamadou Koulibaly, was speaking to journalists after a five-hour closed-door meeting of members of Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) in Abidjan.

"The FPI is in no hurry to go there (to a unity government). It can be formed without us and then, when our conditions are met, we will be ready," Koulibaly said. "Conditions of security, of the release of our comrades, must be met, say our activists. Then can we seriously consider joining the government."

Gbagbo's refusal to step down, despite U.N.-certified results showing Ouattara had won the election, triggered a violent standoff culminating in French and U.N. forces bombing Gbagbo's compound, enabling pro-Ouattara troops to seize him.

Ouattara's offer of a unity government is partly aimed at starting a process of national reconciliation after a decade of war, instability, and ethnic division.

But Koulibaly told Radio France International on Tuesday that a "unity government is not necessarily the answer."

"The RHDP (Ouattara's party) won this election against our party, which was in power for 10 years. The RHDP is in power and it can go ahead and create its government, our comrades say," Koulibaly told the journalists on Wednesday.

GBAGBO IN DETENTION

Gbagbo is being held in the north, and Ouattara is unlikely to agree to release him or his top aides. Ouattara wants Gbagbo tried for alleged crimes against humanity committed in the aftermath of his refusal to quit.

His party leader, Pascal Affi N'Guessan, and his deputy, Simone Gbagbo, wife of former president Laurent Gbagbo, are also both under arrest.

Around 3,000 people were killed during the conflict in the world's top cocoa producer and a million more fled their homes in the main city Abidjan alone.

Amnesty International said on Wednesday that forces loyal to both Gbagbo and Ouattara had committed war crimes: [ID:nLDE74N2AR]

"Hundreds of people have been unlawfully killed, often only on the grounds of their ethnicity and presumed political affiliation. Women and adolescents have been victims of sexual violence, including rape, and hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee their homes."

Ouattara now faces the tough task of balancing reconciliation with justice for those responsible for the most serious crimes.

Ouattara has asked the International Criminal Court to investigate the most serious allegations on both sides, which include mass killings, rape, kidnap and executions.

But he also wants a South African-style national truth and reconciliation commission.

"We talk about national reconciliation and truth, but at the same time we talk about justice. Our activists questioned whether it will be real justice or the justice of revenge," Koulibaly said.

(Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Yahoo! News

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

U.N. in Ivory Coast says 'the war is over,' Gbagbo surrenders

SharePrintBy Douglas Stanglin, USA TODAYComment

Recommend

Update at 9:13 a.m. ET: The U.N. special representative in the Ivory Coast tells Al-Jazeera TV that "the war is over" and that strongman Laurent Gbagbo has surrendered. "He is in a basement and is ready to surrender," says Y. P. Choi, who is the special representative of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. He says Gbagbo's top generals have all defected and his fighters have "simply melted away." Choi says U.N. officials are now trying to find out Gbagbo's terms of surrender, but that the fighting has ceased, except perhaps for some isolated units who have not gotten the word.

View the Original article