Gbagbo Declares Cote D'Ivoire No-Fly Zone For UN Peacekeepers

Gbagbo Declares Cote D'Ivoire No-Fly Zone For UN Peacekeepers

Ivorian leader, Laurent Gbagbo has declared Cote d'Ivoire a no-fly zone for UN operations and the Lincorne.

A joint statement by the Presidency, Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defence, read on the Ivorian state television, said that the order was to preserve the ``integrity and security of the country'' .

The UN and the Lincorne had largely relied on helicopters for
movements in the country due to police and youth gang
barricades on major roads.

High Level Panel

Gbagbo gave the order even as Mr Alassane Ouattara, who won the last presidential election in the country, left for Addis Ababa to attend the AU High Level Panel on Cote d'Ivoire crisis.

Though Ouattara owns a private jet, he relied on UN helicopters to airlift food, medical supplies and visitors to Golf Hotel where he has been staying.

Ouattara was inaugurated as the president of the country in December 2010 but Gbagbo has yet to relinquish power, a development which led to the current political crisis.

NAN/Margaret