ECOWAS Plans More Dialogue With Cote D'Ivoire Gbagbo

ECOWAS Plans More Dialogue With Cote D'Ivoire Gbagbo
Aliyu Othman, Abuja

The Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, has said it will continue to dialogue with Laurent Gbagbo as it resolved to send back the three regional leaders mediating in the Cote d ‘Ivoire political crisis.

President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria and the Chairman of ECOWAS said in Abuja, at the end of a briefing session by the leaders of Benin, Sierra Leone and Cave Verde that they would return to Abidjan on January 3 to seek further ways toward peace.

Earlier on Tuesday, three West African leaders met incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo. Presidents Yayi Boni of Benin, Pedro Pires of Cape Verde and Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone delivered a message from regional leaders, urging Gbagbo to hand over power to the winner of the November 28 presidential election, Alassane Ouattara.

The leaders also met the UN envoy in Côte d'Ivoire , Mr. Young Choi.

Assault on UN convoy

Meanwhile, the UN said a large crowd attacked a three-vehicle convoy of UN peacekeeping force in Cote d'Ivoire , slashing one soldier with a machete and setting one of the vehicles on fire, on Tuesday.

In a statement, it said the attack happened in the Yopougon neighbourhood of Abidjan when the convoy carrying 22 soldiers of the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) was on its way from the country's interior.

UNOCI said in the statement that calm was restored after the intervention of the Defence and Security forces Chief of Staff, General Philippe Mangou.

It condemned the attack in strong terms.

''UNOCI vigorously condemns this attack and reiterates its determination to pursue its work in the service of the Ivorian people,” the statement added.

A UN statement said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convened a video conference on Tuesday with UNOCI's leadership and Alain Le Roy, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, who is visiting Cote d'Ivoire .

Le Roy arrived in Abidjan on Monday and met Ouattara and other officials.

He told a news conference that his request to meet with Gbagbo was not acknowledged by the outgoing president's office.

He is in Côte d'Ivoire primarily to show support for UNOCI at a time when it is working with limited resources to address the difficult political situation facing the country.

With additional report from NAN/Yinka