Post date: Dec 20, 2010 3:47:6 PM
French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie says French troops in Ivory Coast have the right to defend themselves if they come under attack.
PARIS, FRANCE (DECEMBER 19, 2010) TV5 MONDE - France joined the United Nations on Sunday (December 19) in stepping up calls for him to stand down as president after a disputed poll or face sanctions.
The world's top cocoa grower is locked in a dispute over a November 28 presidential vote that both Gbagbo and rival Alassane Ouattara say they won. Ouattara's claim is backed by numerous foreign governments and the U.N. Security Council."Mr Gbabgo no longer has any competence nor power. We shouldn't forget that. The Ivorian people have clearly voiced it, they have chosen Mr Outtara as President of the Republic," said French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie on French TV.
"The United Nations - the totality of the world's country - is clearly saying that Mr Gbagbo is no longer president of Ivory Coast," she added.
Gbagbo's government on Saturday (December 18) issued a demand for the United Nations and France to withdraw their forces from the country, but the world body made clear its 10,000 troops would remain and Paris said its 900-plus forces would stay too.
Despite stressing there were no plans to become directly involved in fighting between pro-Gbagbo and pro-Ouattara forces which last week waged gun battles, Alliot-Marie said French troops have the right to defend themselves if attacked.
Alliot-Marie reaffirmed that Gbagbo would face international sanctions if he did not step down. French President Nicholas Sarkozy has said EU measures such as travel bans and asset freezes on him and his entourage could be launched within days.
Gbagbo controls the army and key state institutions and his camp has rejected calls for him to quit as outside meddling.
His newly-named youth minister, Charles Ble Goude, told a rally of the fervently pro-Gbagbo Young Patriots movement that the sovereignty of the West African nation was at stake.
Election commission results showed Ouattara won by nearly 8 percentage points. But Gbagbo claimed victory and is backed by the pro-Gbagbo Constitutional Council, which erased nearly half a million votes in Ouattara strongholds, alleging fraud.
The United Nations, France, the United States, the European Union, the African Union and West African regional bloc ECOWAS have urged Gbagbo to admit defeat and accept an offer of exile.
Ouattara says he will only agree to examine compromise solutions if Gbagbo first accepts to step down.
Gbagbo's government has denied using excessive force to put down protests on Thursday (December 16) called by Ouattara allies in a failed attempt to seize the state broadcaster building.
At least 4,000 people have already crossed over into Liberia and some 200 into Guinea since last month's election, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said, adding that it was making contingency plans for a possible greater exodus.
Guinea's President-elect Alpha Conde called on the national army to step up monitoring of their 500-km (300-mile) border.