Ivory Coast in turmoil :

Army seals off pro-Ouattara area

IVORY COAST: Forces loyal to Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo have encircled the scene of clashes between them and supporters of his rival in Abidjan and blocked entry to UN peacekeepers, they said on Thursday.

Six policemen were killed in the Abidjan suburb of Abobo on Wednesday in a second day of fighting between security forces loyal to Gbagbo and supporters of rival presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara that claimed at least five lives on Tuesday.

Ouattara’s parallel government, operating out of a hotel under guard of UN peacekeepers, said Gbagbo’s forces killed at least seven civilians in Wednesday’s clashes.

The West African nation has been in crisis since a Nov. 28 presidential election that both Ouattara and Gbagbo claim to have won. Ouattara was proclaimed winner by the country’s electoral commission and is widely regarded by foreign governments as having legitimately won the UN-certified poll.

But Gbagbo has refused to step down, with backing from the top court, and he still controls the security forces.

His Army Chief of Staff Philippe Mangou said UN peacekeepers had been sent away from Abobo after midnight.

“According to our last report from the field, the head of the (UN) operation was turned around and went back,” Mangou told journalists after meeting Gbagbo at his residence.

“It was provocative and shameful on their part, because they are supposed to be an impartial force ... to bring us peace but they have become something else,” he said.

The UN mission spokesman was not available for comment.

A UN captain, who could not be named, told Reuters that mission chief Y.J. Choi was in the convoy that was turned away. Abidjan, Thursday, Reuters