Amnesty offered to Gbagbo
Ivory Coast: Self-proclaimed president Laurent Gbagbo will
enjoy amnesty if he leaves power peacefully, according to Kenyan Prime
Minister Raila Odinga.
"There will be amnesty for him in the sense that he will not be sued
or persecuted," Odinga told reporters in Nairobi after his recent visit
to Ivory Coast and Nigeria as an envoy of the African Union.
Press reports quote Odinga as saying that if he decides to remain in
the country, he will be authorized to tend to his affairs.
In the Kenyan official?(tm)s opinion, "force would be the last
resort, as it has its consequences. Lives would be lost, not only of
soldiers, but also of civilians." On Monday, Odinga joined the
negotiations started last week by presidents Pedro Pires (Cape Verde),
Ernest Koroma (Sierra Leone) and Thomas Yayi Boni (Benin), all envoys of
the Economic Community of Western African States.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who is currently heading ECOWAS,
said on Tuesday that there was a stalemate situation in Ivory Coast.
"The ECOWAS stand remains the same after our latest meeting on December
24, when 10 of the 15 leaders of member countries agreed to ask Gbagbo
to transfer the post to Ouattara; otherwise, force would be used,
recalled Jonathan." In this context of fractured governability, 22,000
Ivorian civilians, mostly women and children, have left for Liberia,
according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
ECOWAS, the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union and
the governments of France and the United States recognize Ouattara as
president, after the Independent Electoral Committee declared him the
winner in recent elections, but the Constitutional Council recognized
Gbagbo as the winner. Addis Ababa, Thursday, Prensa Latina |
