LAGOS, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Cote d'Ivoire's incumbent Laurent Gbagbo and his presidential rival Alassane Ouattara have agreed on face-to-face talks as a result of mediation by African leaders, media report said on Tuesday.
AFP quoted Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who represented the African Union in the just-ended mission in the West African country, as saying that the two had agreed to meet face to face but under certain conditions.
Odinga also said it was a useful beginning and more efforts have to be made to achieve peace in the country, according to AFP.
Cote d'Ivoire has been trapped in a political impasse since the landmark presidential run-off held on Nov. 28 last year. Both Gbagbo and opposition leader Alassane Ouattara claimed victory, swore themselves in as president of the country and formed their respective government.
Gbagbo was backed by the country's Constitutional Council, while Ouattara has the support of the electoral commission.
The mission from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was in Abidjan late last year to ask Gbagbo to cede power to his rival Alassane Ouattara. The mission of three African presidents left Cote d'Ivoire without any sign of success. They returned to Cote d'Ivoire on Monday to continue its mediation efforts.
ECOWAS has earlier urged Gbagbo to step down and vowed the use of legitimate force if he fails to heed its immutable demand.
Gbagbo said on Friday in a New Year message that he would not step down as president.
He said he was not going to give up.
He also described the call for him to quit as "an attempted coup d' etat".
Gbagbo said no one has the right to call on foreign armies to invade his country.
"Our greatest duty to our country is to defend it from foreign attack,'' he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment