Entrenched Ivory Coast Leader Calls for Resistance

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Fox News:

With most of the country now controlled by his opponent, and with both his home and the presidential palace surrounded, Ivory Coast's strongman Laurent Gbagbo on Saturday issued a final call to arms, fighting to defend his 10-year grip on power.

Plagued by mass defections inside his ranks including that of his top commander, Gbagbo appeared defeated just hours earlier.

But the armed group aiming to install the country's democratically elected leader, Alassane Ouattara, faced a major setback when Gbagbo's troops retook the state television station after they had held it for more than 12 hours.

The battle for Abidjan, the country's most important city, has come at a terrible price. On Tuesday, the day after Ouattara's forces took the western town of Duekoue, intercommunal fighting broke out, killing at least 800 people, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. In Abidjan, residents have cowered inside their homes, sleeping in bathrooms and under their beds for fear of stray bullets.

On Saturday morning, a disheveled TV announcer addressed the nation saying Gbagbo was at his residence and that it had not been attacked.

The camera shook and soldiers could be seen milling on the set as they called on police, military, customs officers, coast guard and forest rangers to report for duty to protect the embattled ruler.

Gbagbo, 65, has not been seen in public since the offensive began and his whereabouts could not be confirmed. The phones of his closest aides rang unanswered.

In just five days, Ouattara's fighters succeeded in taking nearly 80 percent of the Poland-sized nation, entering Abidjan on Friday for what appeared to be the final battle.
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So where is President Obama on preventing a humanitarian crisis with air strikes?

[Pepper]

WestVirginiaRebel

 

"So where is President Obama on preventing a humanitarian crisis with air strikes? "

 

Good question.

 

 

 

Ivory Coast mortar attack may be crime against humanity, say UN

 

Shelling of market in Abidjan that killed 25 and injured 40 blamed on forces loyal to president Laurent Gbagbo

 

 

(They probably have to check their policy manual. Is the definition of crime against humanity 26 or more killed? Or are African mortars excluded? Details, details.)^sarcasm