Gbagbo's Regime Enters Death Spiral

Laurent Gbagbo's regime has entered its death spiral, and opposition forces have closed the noose around Gbagbo's residence. Reports indicate that he's in a bunker and surrounded and while he claims not to want to die, he's refusing to cede power.

Forces loyal to Ivory Coast presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara on Wednesday stormed the residence of incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo who has refused to cede power, a spokeswoman for Ouattara forces told Reuters.

"Yes they (Ouattara forces) are in the process of entering the residence to seize Gbagbo, they have not taken him yet, but they are in the process, they are in the building," Affousy Bamba told Reuters.

Residents around the presidential palace in Abidjan's Cocody neighborhood said they heard heavy gunfire and loud explosions coming from the direction of the palace.

"I have seen from my building the FRCI fighters (Ouattara forces) in pickups and 4x4 jeeps rushing toward Gbagbo's residence, weapons in their hands," Alfred Kouassi, who lives near Gbagbo's residence in Cocody, told Reuters.

"We can hear automatic gunfire and also the thuds of heavy weapons coming from the residence," he said.

Gbagbo representative Toussaint Alain, speaking to The Associated Press in a phone interview from Paris, said Gbagbo's residence was being bombarded by the French army, but the French military denied the claim.

A negotiated end to the fighting has failed, and Gbagbo has refused to cede power, despite losing the November election to Ouattara.

France is intervening in Ivory Coast, and is backed by UN mandate so as to protect civilian populations.



Gbagbo is attempting to use French intervention as a means to rally support - noting French colonialism.

Noose Tightens Around Ivory Coast's Gbagbo; Gbagbo Seeks Exit Strategy

Laurent Gbagbo lost elections in November to Alassane Dramane Ouattara, but chose to remain in power. That has led to an ongoing uprising, and now the UN and France are assisting Ouattara's supporters in regime change.



They're helping to force Gbagbo from power, and now that Gbagbo's forces have been pushed from key locations around the country, and have lost the presidential palace compound, Gbagbo is now looking at a negotiated exit strategy.

Speaking on France Info radio, Ali Coulibaly did not provide any details about the alleged negotiations. The ambassador represents Alassane Ouattara, who is regarded by the international community as the country's democratically elected president.

Coulibaly's comments come a day after attacks by United Nations and French forces on Gbagbo's presidential palace, military bases and other targets in the country's main city Abidjan.

Ouattara's forces claimed they had taken the residence. However, this was denied by a Gbagbo adviser.

Pro-Ouattara supporters had succeeded in taking much of the country last week, but they faltered upon reaching Abidjan, Ivory Coast's largest city.

With the help of international forces, the armed group pushed its way into the city.

The loss of life and damage to the economy is considerable. All of this could have been avoided had Gbagbo simply heeded the results of the election. Instead of facing justice, expect Gbagbo to be given the golden ticket to exile.

Death Toll Mounts In Ivory Coast As UN Comes Under Attack From Gbagbo's Loyalists

The death toll continues rising in the Ivory Coast as a result of the political unrest and demands that Laurent Gbagbo leave office.



French peacekeepers took control over a key airport and are bolstering UN peacekeepers elsewhere in the country. Various reports indicate that anywhere from several hundred to more than a thousand people were killed in one town near the heart of the cocoa producing region. There is some dispute over who engaged in the killings, but there were retaliatory attacks between Gbagbo's loyalists and the rebel groups backing the winner of November's election, Alassane Dramane Ouattara.

United Nations helicopters patrolled the skies over the city as a tense calm reigned Sunday morning, a local resident told CNN.

The man, whom CNN is not naming to protect his safety, said he had been to church as usual, where another parishioner said he had seen dead bodies by the road on his way to the congregation.

The uneasy peace came in the wake of claims of a massacre as fighters backing internationally recognized President Alassane Ouattara battle forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo, who refuses to leave office.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton demanded Sunday that Gbagbo step aside immediately.

"Gbagbo is pushing Cote d'Ivoire into lawlessness," she said, using the French name for the country. "He must leave now so the conflict may end."

She also called "on the forces of President Ouattara to respect the rules of war and stop attacks on civilians."

The International Committee of the Red Cross said 800 people were shot to death in the western cocoa-producing town of Duekoue. A United Nations official put the death toll so far at 330.

The massacre occurred between Monday and Wednesday as Ouattara's Republican Forces led an offensive through the country to Abidjan, said Guillaume Ngefa, the deputy human rights director at the U.N. mission in Ivory Coast.

He blamed 220 deaths on forces loyal to Ouattara. Ngefa said pro-Gbagbo forces killed 100 people.

"We have evidence, we have pictures. This was retaliation," he said, referring to Ouattara's forces.

The Ouattara camp said it "firmly rejects such accusations and denies any involvement by the Republican Forces of Cote d'Ivoire in possible abuses."

The UN is withdrawing some of its personnel after their headquarters building has come under repeated attack by Gbagbo's loyalists.