Ivory Coast's Gbagbo faces West African ultimatum

Laurent Gbagbo. AP photo

Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo faced a last-chance ultimatum Tuesday as three West African presidents jetted in to Abidjan to warn him to step down or risk military action.

The leaders of Benin, Cape Verde and Sierra Leone have a message from the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, that he must cede power or the group may use force to resolve Ivory Coast's political crisis.

Presidents Bon Yayi of Benin and Ernest Koroma of Sierra Leone arrived first, and were to be joined at Abidjan airport by Pedro Pires of Cape Verde before holding separate talks with Gbagbo and his rival Alassane Ouattara.

Speaking to reporters before he flew out of Cape Verde, Pires said there had so far been no real attempt to reach a lasting solution to the crisis. "For the time being I do not see any attempt towards resolving the conflict in a sustainable manner. Instead, I see that all approaches are aimed at satisfying immediate interests," Pires said. "I am very concerned because the perception I have is that Ivory Coast is slipping towards a very complicated situation."

The three are not Gbagbo's fiercest critics within ECOWAS, but are armed with a resolution demanding he cede power to Ouattara, signed by more powerful figures such as the bloc's chairman, Nigeria's Goodluck Jonathan.

There seems little chance of Gbagbo backing down, however, as he continues to insist he is the legally elected leader of Ivory Coast and has warned that ECOWAS' threat of military action could plunge the region into war.

The visit comes the day after Gbagbo appeared to have seen off one challenge when a general strike call was slow to take effect, but suffered a setback when his Paris embassy fell to supporters of Ouattara. The embassy was closed "until further notice" on Tuesday.

Both Gbagbo and his long-time rival claim to have won last month's election, and both have had themselves declared president, but Ouattara has been recognized as the president by U.N. vote monitors and world powers.