UN troops surround ‘last defenders’ of Ivory Coast leader

UNITED NATIONS peacekeepers have surrounded the “last defenders” of Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo, after a week of heavy fighting to unseat him.

Forces loyal to rival presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara have been waging an offensive in Abidjan to topple Gbagbo, who has refused to cede power after losing last November’s election to Ouattara.

“At this moment the military situation is as follows; the UNOCI (United Nations mission in Ivory Coast) troops have surrounded in a limited area the last defenders of the previous president Gbagbo,” French defence minister Gerard Longuet told the French Senate.

A UN spokesman in Abidjan told Reuters that the UN had sent forces into the Cocody neighbourhood, where Gbagbo is believed to be holed up in his heavily defended compound, but did not plan to intervene.

“We have sent a patrol to Cocody and the surrounding area, but it is not to intervene,” Hamadoun Toure said.

“I am not aware that Ouattara has requested our intervention at this stage.”

Earlier, French forces hit military vehicles belonging to troops loyal to Gbagbo during a helicopter-borne mission that rescued Japan’s ambassador.

The French went in overnight after Gbagbo soldiers broke into the residence, where ambassador Yoshifumi Okamura and seven of his staff had taken shelter inside a safe room, French spokesman Thierry Burkhard said.

French forces, who have already joined helicopter raids to destroy Gbagbo’s weapons, also struck two pick-up trucks belonging to armed assailants who tried to enter the French ambassador’s residence in the former colony.

The strikes came as Ouattara laid siege to Gbagbo’s residence after an attempt to extract him met with fierce resistance.

Gunfire could be heard coming from Gbagbo’s presidential palace in the Plateau district and in the Cocody neighbourhood.

“Right now there is shooting every 30 minutes,” a Cocody resident, Jean-Claude, said.

But there was no sign of a major assault by Ouattara’s forces, whose attack on Gbagbo’s personal residence was repelled on Wednesday. Gbagbo is thought to be holed up in the residence in the Cocody embassy district.

Longuet told the French Senate Gbagbo had around 1,000 men, 200 of whom are in his residence.

A week of fighting for control of the city has left terrified residents scrambling to find food and water, with frequent power cuts and hospitals overwhelmed with wounded.

“Every morning people have to take jerry cans to walk around the neighbourhood and search for water,” Jean-Claude said.

“As for food, there is nothing left. People have to queue up in long lines to buy even a single baguette,” he said.

Gbagbo, who refused to recognise Ouattara’s election victory, said he had no intention of quitting.

Picture: Soldiers loyal to Alassane Ouattara return from fighting, at a checkpoint serving as an operating base, at one of the main entrances to Abidjan yesterday. Picture: AP