Gbagbo preparing to step down

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Laurent Gbagbo (Photo courtesy: Voice of America)

The fighting in Ivory Coast may be coming to an end, as entrenched leader Laurent Gbagbo is reportedly negotiating his own exit. Anchor Marco Werman gets details from the BBC’s John James in the main city, Abidjan. Download MP3

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Marco Werman: I’m Marco Werman, this is The World. The conflict in Ivory Coast may be coming to an end. Entrenched leader Laurent Gbagbo is negotiating his own exit. Gbagbo is holed up in his residence in the main city of Abidjan. He’s literally surrounded by forces loyal to the internationally recognized president, Alassane Ouattara. They got key support in the past few days from French and U.N. military forces in the country, meanwhile Gbagbo’s own support seems to be melting away. With Gbagbo’s refusal to step down as president, after losing an election in November that sparked the fighting, the violence has left hundreds of people dead. The BBC’s John James is on the outskirts of Abidjan. What do all these developments mean, John? Is the war almost over?

John James: I think that does seem to be the case. Just looking at the situation on the edge of Abidjan, things seem reasonably quiet, just the odd gunfire, but generally the heavy weaponry has stopped over the last few hours and with these talks of negotiations I think it really does feel like the end. We’ve got a situation where the president is understood to be in the presidential bunker beneath the presidential residence, and there negotiating his departure with the U.N. and some of his key generals.

Werman: And so Laurent Gbagbo is still at the presidential palace as far as you know right now?

James: The presidential residence. That’s what we understand, but you know, it’s not clear exactly where he is in the city if indeed on the outskirts, but no, it does seem that’s where he is at the moment despite the fact that the pro-Ouattara forces who launched their offensive yesterday have taken control of much of the city.

Werman: What are the options for Laurent Gbagbo right now? Do you know even what he’s being offered?

James: No, it’s not clear exactly what he’s being offered, but the negotiation’s around his surrender, and, no, I think it’s just principally about finding a safe way for him to leave the country and to come out of this situation with his family, perhaps some close allies from his government. Anything more, we haven’t heard about, certainly over the last four months there’s been various offers on the table that included amnesty, financial package, you know, the safe exile somewhere in the world and offers from various countries, but those were in earlier times, now it’s resorted to a military solution and so I’m not sure how attractive these offers will now be, but I think everyone’s keen for him to find a way out of this situation, to, of course, you know, resolve this post-election crisis and allow the country to move on after an extremely destructive four month process.

Werman: Looking to the near term, John, does Alassane Ouattara have the resources and support to bring Ivory Coast together again?

James: Well, it’s been a very controversial process, this post-election period, and certainly there’s been a lot of damage done to the tissue, the social tissue, if you like, of the country, and that’s going to represent a huge challenge to Alassane Ouattara who, although he may have won the election, is still a divisive character in many homes and many people see him either as not truly Ivoirian or as the person who’s responsible for the violence the country has seen over the last decade or so, so he’ll have to work hard to win over a lot of people in the country, at the same time given the violence that there’s been, and also  the presence of so many weapons that have been handed out in the last few weeks. There’s a very real security challenge, I think, as well for the country, and of course just getting the country back on its feet. I mean, the economy is virtually zero, so many companies have closed down or had to lay off staff, and so there’s a huge challenge for him just to get the country back, functioning as it was, just before the election.

Werman: The BBC’s John James on the outskirts of Abidjan.

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