UNITED NATIONS, (Reuters) – Forces loyal to beleaguered Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo have regained ground in Abidjan and fully control the upscale Plateau and Cocody areas, U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said yesterday.
“There is still fighting going on but there is a stalemate,” Le Roy told reporters after briefing the U.N. Security Council on the situation in the world’s top cocoa-growing nation.
Gbagbo has refused to cede power after a U.N.-certified election last year showed he lost to rival Alassane Ouattara. A human rights group yesterday accused forces for both sides of killing and abusing civilians.
Le Roy said Gbagbo’s forces, under attack by those of Ouattara, used a lull on Tuesday for peace talks as a ruse to reinforce their positions. The talks have so far led nowhere.
“We understand that since that time (the lull), the forces of Mr. Gbagbo … have regained terrain and they have full control of the Plateau and Cocody area,” he said.
“He has reinforced his strength in Plateau and Cocody,” Le Roy said. “We have seen heavy weapons to be transferred to the Cocody area, including this morning.”
Le Roy said Gbagbo’s men still had heavy weapons, even though U.N. and French forces had destroyed some of them. But Gbagbo’s adviser in Paris denied his forces had heavy arms.
“These are untruthful statements as the Ivory Coast army’s abilities were destroyed by French bombings earlier this week,” Toussaint Alain told Reuters. “France is just looking for a pretext to get rid of President Laurent Gbagbo.”
U.N. and French troops used attack helicopters this week to knock out heavy weapons used by Gbagbo’s forces after getting a green light from the Security Council last week.
Separately, Human Rights Watch issued a report yesterday saying forces loyal to Ouattara killed hundreds of civilians, raped more than 20 suspected supporters of Gbagbo and burned at least 10 villages in the country’s far western region.
