 Sierra Leone's Ernest Bai Koroma (L) Benin's Boni Yayi (C) and Kenya's PM Raila Odinga talk outside a hotel after a meeting with opposition leader Alassane Ouattara in Abidjan. AP photo. |
African mediators left Ivory Coast without a breakthrough in the west African nation's presidential vote crisis after the man the world says won, Alassane Ouattara, said discussions were over.
The four African leaders' efforts appeared to come to a head as they left Abidjan late Monday after their latest talks with embattled incumbent Laurent Gbagbo, who is facing the threat of military action if he does not stand down.
"For us, the discussions are over," Ouattara told journalists after meeting three presidents representing the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, and Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga for the African Union.
Ouattara, holed up in an Abidjan resort hotel protected by United Nations peacekeepers since the disputed November 28 presidential run-off, repeated his demands of Gbagbo. "One, that he must recognize the results of the Independent Electoral Commission, two, that I am the elected president, Ivory Coast's legitimate president, three that he must leave office as quickly as possible," he said.
Ivory Coast's Independent Electoral Commission as well as the U.N. declared Ouattara the winner, while the Constitutional Council said that Gbagbo won. Both men have been sworn in as president and Gbagbo has said there is an international plot to depose him.
"It has been a friendly discussion, you can see us all with smiles," Sierra Leone President Ernest Koroma said after meeting Gbagbo for a final round of talks, along with Benin President Boni Yayi and Pedro Pires of Cape Verde. "At this stage we can only say that discussions are ongoing," Koroma added.
The mediators will now report back to current ECOWAS head, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, in Abuja. Jonathan has said that ECOWAS will decide by Tuesday how to handle the impasse, amid unconfirmed reports of mass graves filled with Ouattara supporters since November's vote.
With the clock ticking, a senior U.S. State Department official said that Gbagbo, who has relatives in Atlanta, Georgia, could seek refuge there, but that the offer would not last long. "We want to see him leave. If he wishes to come here, we of course would entertain that as a means of resolving the current situation," the official said, requesting anonymity.
"But any opportunity to do that is an opportunity that is rapidly closing because of what is happening on the ground, and every indication we have at this point is that he's digging in," the official said.
Gbagbo, who retains control of the army, rejected an ECOWAS attempt last week to persuade him to step down and end the crisis that has sparked international condemnation and fears of a civil war.
Gbagbo said in his New Year's address that "we are not going to give up" and that calls for him to quit amounted to "an attempted coup d'etat carried out under the banner of the international community."
The four African leaders' efforts appeared to come to a head as they left Abidjan late Monday after their latest talks with embattled incumbent Laurent Gbagbo, who is facing the threat of military action if he does not stand down.
"For us, the discussions are over," Ouattara told journalists after meeting three presidents representing the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, and Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga for the African Union.
Ouattara, holed up in an Abidjan resort hotel protected by United Nations peacekeepers since the disputed November 28 presidential run-off, repeated his demands of Gbagbo. "One, that he must recognize the results of the Independent Electoral Commission, two, that I am the elected president, Ivory Coast's legitimate president, three that he must leave office as quickly as possible," he said.
Ivory Coast's Independent Electoral Commission as well as the U.N. declared Ouattara the winner, while the Constitutional Council said that Gbagbo won. Both men have been sworn in as president and Gbagbo has said there is an international plot to depose him.
"It has been a friendly discussion, you can see us all with smiles," Sierra Leone President Ernest Koroma said after meeting Gbagbo for a final round of talks, along with Benin President Boni Yayi and Pedro Pires of Cape Verde. "At this stage we can only say that discussions are ongoing," Koroma added.
The mediators will now report back to current ECOWAS head, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, in Abuja. Jonathan has said that ECOWAS will decide by Tuesday how to handle the impasse, amid unconfirmed reports of mass graves filled with Ouattara supporters since November's vote.
With the clock ticking, a senior U.S. State Department official said that Gbagbo, who has relatives in Atlanta, Georgia, could seek refuge there, but that the offer would not last long. "We want to see him leave. If he wishes to come here, we of course would entertain that as a means of resolving the current situation," the official said, requesting anonymity.
"But any opportunity to do that is an opportunity that is rapidly closing because of what is happening on the ground, and every indication we have at this point is that he's digging in," the official said.
Gbagbo, who retains control of the army, rejected an ECOWAS attempt last week to persuade him to step down and end the crisis that has sparked international condemnation and fears of a civil war.
Gbagbo said in his New Year's address that "we are not going to give up" and that calls for him to quit amounted to "an attempted coup d'etat carried out under the banner of the international community."
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