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Internationally-recognised president claims representative too closely associated with incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo, who refuses to leave power
The internationally-recognised president of Ivory Coast rejected an African Union (AU) representative appointed to resolve the country's political crisis at the weekend.
Alassane Ouattara claimed the representative was too closely associated with incumbent leader, Laurent Gbagbo, who refuses to leave power.
Ouattara alleged that the AU high representative, José Brito – a former foreign minister in Cape Verde – was not acceptable because he was not a former head of state and because of his personal and political ties to Gbagbo.
"Considering his personal relations and his political acquaintances, known to all in Ivory Coast, with the outgoing president Laurent Gbagbo ... the president of the Republic of Ivory Coast rejects Mr José Brito," a statement read.
The move leaves the future of any negotiated settlement in doubt as Ivory Coast slides toward civil war, with daily battles in the streets of the capital, and youth being enrolled into the army en masse.
The AU reconfirmed its endorsement of Ouattara as the legitimate president earlier this month but did not name its envoy, charged with implementing the resolution, until Saturday.
The original resolution stipulated that the representative would have 14 days – a delay that expired last week – to complete his work.
A western diplomatic source said several African heads of state were approached by the AU, but did not want to become involved in the degenerating situation in Ivory Coast. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
More than 1 million people have fled their homes amid daily violence in both the economic capital, Abidjan, and along the western border with Liberia, the UN said last week. At least 462 deaths have been confirmed by the UN, but Ouattara's camp says that almost double that number have died.
Gbagbo's security forces have been accused of using heavy weapons against civilians, killing seven unarmed women with machine guns earlier this month and at least 25 people when mortars were fired on a crowded market in a separate incident.
On Saturday, about 10,000 people rallied outside the presidential palace in Abidjan. Their leader, the "street general" Charles Blé Goudé, who is also a minister in Gbagbo's government, called for the rally to show thousands of Ivorians were willing to die to protect their president.
Blé Goudé cited similar rallies he had called in the past, whose anti-foreigner message earned him UN sanctions for inciting hatred and led directly to the evacuation of almost 10,000 French citizens in 2004.
France and Nigeria have submitted a UN security council resolution that would permit the UN peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast to destroy heavy weapons in Abidjan and apply targeted sanctions against Gbagbo and his inner circle.
