The heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will hold on Wednesday and Thursday in Abuja, Nigeria a series of talks on, among other issues, the recent developments in the Ivorian crisis.
The leadership crisis in Cote d’Ivoire has recently triggered the general exodus of civilians from Abidjan and other conflict areas
The Abuja summit, which is not exclusively limited to Ivory Coast, is also expected to discuss other issues pertaining to the smooth running of the West African sub-regional organization, which on 24 December 2010, recognized Alassane Ouattara as Ivorian President-elect after that country’s 28 November presidential runoff.
Ecowas had threatened to use legitimate force to oust outgoing President Laurent Gbagbo, but later backed out and called for a dialogue sponsored by the African Union (AU), whose Panel on Ivory Coast has so far failed to convince Mr. Gbagbo to step aside.
In a statement published on Tuesday, the UN Operation in Ivory Coast (UNOCI) said it was “extremely worried about the increasing use” of heavy weapons, “including machine guns, rocket launchers and mortars, by Laurent Gbagbo’s special forces against civilian people in Abidjan.”
According to the United Nations latest reports, some 440 people have so far been killed in the country’s post-election violence.
Source African Press Agency
African News from NetNewsPublisher.com
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