Gbagbo hangs tough as strike falls flat

Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo saw off another challenge to his rule yesterday as a call for a general strike fell flat and he prepared to face-down an ultimatum from West African leaders.

Mr Gbagbo’s rival Alassane Ouattara, who has been recognised as President by the international community but is trapped in his besieged headquarters hotel protected by UN peacekeepers, had called for a national shut-down.

But the sprawling commercial capital Abidjan, one of West Africa’s biggest ports and the key to controlling the country, was as busy as ever, its streets snarled with traffic jams and its street markets packed with shoppers.

Mr Ouattara’s party had called on all citizens to stop work and to stay off until Mr Gbagbo stepped down. “We should not let them steal our victory,” said the RHDP party, in a statement signed by its director, Alphonse Djedje Mady.

But the statement came out late, and was not carried by the pro-Gbagbo state media. The incumbent’s security forces keep the south of the country in an iron grip, and a previous attempt to stage a protest was met with deadly force.

Mr Quattara’s RHDP party had more success outside the country, however.

Party supporters occupied the Ivorian embassy in Paris, after the former colonial power said it would recognise Mr Ouattara’s choice for ambassador. The previous pro-Gbagbo ambassador had left the premises without resistance.

“This is proof that the Ivorian people are prepared to go as far as it takes to get the new government set up. The youths will stay until the new ambassador arrives,” said Meite Mahmud, a pro-Ouattara embassy employee.

French police deployed in front of the building, but there was no violence, and pro-Gbagbo staff appear to have left shortly before protesters arrived.

Belgium also said it was recognising an Ouattara nominee as envoy.

In another blow to Mr Gbagbo, the African Union named Kenya’s Prime Minister Raila Odinga as its pointman for efforts to resolve the crisis in Ivory Coast.

Mr Gbagbo’s next challenge will be a meeting tomorrow with leaders from Benin, Cape Verde and Sierra Leone, who come carrying a message from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that Mr Gbagbo must step down.

There seems little chance of that, however, and Mr Gbagbo has warned that ECOWAS’ threat of military action could plunge the region into war and endanger the millions of West African migrants living in Ivory Coast.

“If there is internal disorder, a civil war, there will be dangers, because we will not let our law, our constitution, be trampled on. People should get that idea out of their heads,” Mr Gbagbo told the French daily Le Figaro.

“We’re not afraid. We are the ones who are attacked. We have the law on our side. How far are those attacking us prepared to go?” he demanded.