Raila's UN guards in shooting drama

By Standard Reporter and Agencies
Prime Minister Raila Odinga's convoy was diverted to UN headquarters in Ivory Coast following a scuffle and gunfire between his UN guards and pro-Laurent Gbagbo's militia outside his hotel. Raila, who is leading the African Union mediation effort, was however able to later hold separate talks with the two sides to the worsening Ivorian power struggle. "He is in the hotel now…we are having lunch and both sides are showing more openness and willingness to find a negotiated peaceful settlement," said Raila’s special advisor Mr Salim Lone, who is travelling with him, on the telephone.
He said the standoff between the peacekeepers had nothing to do with Raila and took place far from where he was. He added Raila was received "warmly and courteously" by incumbent President Gbagbo, adding that the confrontation was part and parcel of the running hostilities between the UN staff and pro-Gbagbo supporters, who perceive the peacekeepers as poised to act against their leader.
Fired in the air
"The story (earlier filed by section of international press) is incorrect. There is hostility among Gbagbo’s people against the UN whose staff they regularly harass and attack. Yesterday two UN cars came to the hotel we were staying in and the youths asked to leave. The UN guards fired in the air to disperse them," Mr Lone said.
He was emphatic the shooting drama did not affect the PM’s mission, explaining that Raila had a fruitful and long meeting with both Gbagbo and Mr Alassane Ouattara, who was declared winner of last year’s election by Ivorian national election body.
He added: "It is not connected to the PM. They had no idea the PM was coming there. When we left the airport the UN team with us told us they had received a call there was a problem in the hotel and we would not head straight there."
International press also reported the UN guards waiting for Raila to check into Pullman Hotel were forced to fire into the air after they were ringed by agitated supporters of the incumbent leader who has clung to power despite international pressure to vacate the seat for Ouattara.
The standoff, which took place on Monday afternoon, was defused by a detachment of Gbagbo’s soldiers guarding a nearby bank. They too shot into the air and threw teargas canisters at the supporters of their commander who is isolated by West African member-states — of the regional economic body Ecowas — who have threatened to force him out of office and the international community.
Ouattara is under UN protection in a hotel in the city from where he runs his parallel ‘government’ as Gbagbo, who has ruled for a decade, holds onto power with the help of his military cronies. Gbagbo had Ouattara’s victory, which is recognised by the international community, annulled by a higher State organ controlled by his handpicked supporters.
Armed soldiers

Ivory Coast's presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara (left) holds hands with Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga, the African Union mediator on Ivoirian crisis, on Monday. [PHOTO: REUTERS]

Pictures taken by AFP showed Raila’s motorcade stopped at a road from the airport, with his aides standing outside with armed UN soldiers keeping guard. When he was to meet Gbagbo, the UN soldiers handed him to the incumbent’s military to escort him, as they do not recognise the incumbent leader.
Chinese news agency Xinhua reported: "Witnesses said the pro-Gbagbo supporters calling themselves "the youth patriots" lined up the road leading to Pullman Hotel, before Raila’s arrival from the Abidjan airport." It said the demonstrators violently attacked the convoy of UN soldiers who had come to the hotel to wait for Raila, forcing the peacekeepers to make an about-turn.
The Associated Press reported the peacekeepers fired warning shots into the air to disperse a mob allied with the president who is refusing to give up power, as Raila arrived to try to persuade the defiant leader to cede office in the interest of peace.
UN armored personnel carriers, it was reported, were guarding the hotel, and reporters including an AP Television News cameraman saw the mob encircle the vehicles, shouting and pumping their fists in the air. "Seconds later, there was the crack of gunfire; a cloud of birds flew out of nearby trees and protesters scattered," AP reported.
According to The Associated Press story, attacks against the UN have been mounting since last week when six of their cars were destroyed by pro-Gbagbo mobs, who accuse the UN of bias, and of being part of "a foreign plot" to remove their leader.
Raila’s trip is the fifth high-level visit by an African leader trying to find a solution to the standoff. In a statement released Monday, Raila said Gbagbo’s unwillingness to respect the results could create a crisis of confidence for Africa and lead people to think their votes do not matter in a year when 17 presidential elections are scheduled.
"The refusal to respect the will of the Ivoirians as expressed in the November elections will deal a deadly blow to the wave of democracy that is sweeping Africa," Raila said, according to the statement.
On Monday night after leaving the presidential palace, Raila met Ouattara, who is holed up in a hotel across town, unable to leave except by helicopter because troops loyal to Gbagbo have sealed off the roads. The latest attempt at diplomacy comes as the chiefs of staff of the armies of 15 neighboring nations planned to meet this week to consider military intervention to oust Gbagbo.
There are fears, though, that military action could spark retaliatory attacks by ‘Young Patriots’, a militia-like organisation allied with Gbagbo.
Over the weekend, the group’s leader, Charles Ble Goude, held a rally to warn he would soon give "the command" — implying that he planned to unleash the mobs — as he did in 2004 and 2005, when the group gang-raped foreign women, beat French citizens and attacked peacekeepers.
Under escort
Raila, who was in Abidjan three weeks ago, arrived at the Abidjan airport at around 3pm local time. Just like during his first visit in early January, he was welcomed at the airport by the Prime Minister in Gbagbo’s government, Gilbert Ake Ngbo, accompanied by his Foreign Minister Alcide Djedje. He met Gbagbo at the presidential palace under the escort of pro-Gbagbo forces, and then met Ouattara at the Golf Hotel under the escort of UN peacekeepers.
The UN has on several occasions condemned attacks on its forces. Recently, three peacekeepers were slightly injured by pro-Gbagbo forces when they were patrolling Abobo District in the economic capital Abidjan. A UN vehicle was burnt down later by pro-Gbagbo youths.
Ivory Coast has been engulfed by deadly violence resulting from the disputed second round of presidential elections held on November 28.
Abidjan is in the hands of Gbagbo, who has controlled the country’s southern part since the 2002-2003 civil war. The former rebel New Forces, which supports Ouattara, controls the northern part.