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Côte d'Ivoire

Cote d'Ivoire: 'ECOWAS military option remains on the table''

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The use of force to remove incumbent Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo remains an option, despite the ongoing negotiations between ECOWAS and the embattled Gbagbo, the regional bloc's Spokesman, Sunny Ugoh, said Thursday.

''The (West African) military leaders who met in Abuja over two days have finished their work. All it remains is for that (military) option to be activated,'' Ugoh told PANA here.

He dismissed speculations that ECOWAS had jettisoned or delayed its earlier threat to use legitimate force to kick out Gbagbo, if he fails to step down and allow internationally-recognised winner of the 28 Nov, presidential runoff, Alassane Ouattara, to assume office.

Ugoh said the decision for the ECOWAS delegation, which delivered the bloc's ultimatum to Gbagbo Tuesday, to return to Abidjan on Monday (3 Jan), was the right thing to do, apparently based on what the delegation met in Cote d'Ivoire.

''This is not a zero-sum game. If they (delegation) got there and the man they went to meet makes some propositions, it will be irresponsible of them not to take such into consideration,'' he said. ''It is therefore not true that ECOWAS has dumped the decision reached at the 24 Dec. extra-ordinary summit on Cote d'Ivoire.

''The outcome of the summit was clear: that Gbagbo has to quit or face the use of legitimate force. We know who won the election in Cote d'Ivoire. We have drawn a line in the sand. What is not negotiable is the fact that Gbagbo has to go,'' the ECOWAS Spokesman said.

The three West African Presidents (Yayi Boni of Benin, Pedro Pires of Cape Verde and Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone), who constituted the delegation that met Gbagbo, briefed ECOWAS Chairman and Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja Wednesday.

President Jonathan later described as ''positive'' the outcome of the delegation's mission and said the Presidents would return to Abidjan on Monday.

Chiefs of Defence Staff of the 15-member bloc met at the ECOWAS Commission headquarters in Abuja on Monday and Tuesday.

Though the meeting was held behind closed doors, sources told PANA the leaders finalised details of a possible troops deployment and other logistics to give teeth to the decision of the ECOWAS leaders to use force against Gbagbo if he fails to quit.

With Gbagbo and Ouattara both laying claim to the Ivorian presidency, tension remains high in the cocoa-rich West African nation, and analysts said the country could return to the 2002-2003 civil war that divided it into two if the situation is allowed to linger.

Already, the UN said at least 173 people have been killed while thousands have fled to neighbouring countries.

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