Isolated Gbagbo courts defiant Ivory Coast rivals

Laurent Gbagbo wants to “sit down and talk” with his internationally-backed rival for power in Ivory Coast, reports said ­yesterday, as he faced growing isolation after disputed polls.

With world institutions freezing him out as he clings defiantly to power, newspaper reports indicated Mr Gbagbo had made the first sign of a move to tackle the potentially violent standoff.

“Let’s sit down and talk,” Mr Gbagbo was quoted as saying by papers including state daily Fraternite Matin, in a nod to Alassane Ouattara, who has declared himself President based on a UN-endorsed vote-count.

Mr Ouattara’s camp showed no sign of compromise, however.

“By next week I will be moved into my offices” as the country’s Prime Minister, said Guillaume Soro, the former rebel whom Mr Ouattara has named to head his government, at a news conference yesterday at his base in an Abidjan hotel.

“The process underway to ­settle this is irreversible,” he said, making no comment on the reports citing Mr Gbagbo.

Fraternite Matin quoted Mr Gbagbo as telling traditional leaders that “there will be no war” in Ivory Coast, despite widespread warnings that his standoff with Mr Ouattara could erupt into unrest.

Election-related clashes left at least 20 people dead, according to Amnesty International.

The UN refugee agency said yesterday some 2,000 people fearing violence have fled west from Ivory Coast to neighbouring Liberia and Guinea.