French abort Ivory Coast evacuation effort after attack

 

French soldiers patrol in Abidjan on April 9, 2011. Residents of Abidjan headed out of Ivory Coast's main city by foot or ramshackle bus on Saturday, seeking safety, medicine or simply something to eat. - The hotel in Abidjan where presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara has been holed up since a disputed Nov. 28 election in Ivory Coast was targeted by mortar fire Saturday, a UN official told Reuters.

"Mortars targeting Golf Hotel," the official said in a text message, on condition of anonymity. "Now."
The UN official said there were no fatalities at the hotel in Ivory Coast's main city and that the mortar fire appeared to be coming from the presidential palace area in Abidjan.

The hotel in Abidjan where presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara has been holed up since a disputed Nov. 28 election in Ivory Coast was targeted by mortar fire Saturday, a UN official told Reuter

French forces aborted a mission to evacuate diplomatic staff early Saturday after drawing fire from forces loyal to self-declared Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, believed to have been all but defeated earlier in the week. The evacuation was deemed too risky for those involved, said French Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Thierry Burkhard, who declined to comment on the nationality or location of the diplomats.
The French ambassador's residence came under fire Friday, according to Frederic Daguillon, commander of French forces in Ivory Coast. He reported rocket-propelled grenades and two mortar shells landing on the residence.
He said the fire came from positions held by Gbagbo's men, who appeared to be regaining ground.
"French helicopters opened fire in self-defense, they returned fire in self-defense and destroyed an armored vehicle," Daguillon said.
Meanwhile, efforts were underway to restore some semblance of normalcy in Abidjan, Ivory Coast's largest city.
Commercial flights resumed at the Abidjan airport Saturday and the port was reopened, Burkhard said. Crews were concentrating on restoring water and electricity to residents who have gone without for days after forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara entered the city last week.
Violence erupted after Ivory Coast's disputed presidential election in November and escalated into all-out war when Ouattara's forces launched an offensive that brought them into Abidjan.
Ouattara is the internationally recognized president of Ivory Coast. His rival, Gbagbo, has refused to cede power, the political stalemate plunging the West African nation into crisis.
Gbagbo's forces used a lull in fighting this week as a "trick" to reinforce their positions around the Abidjan, according to Alain Le Roy, the head of United Nations peacekeeping operations.
They said Tuesday they wanted a peaceful solution to the monthslong fighting but soon resumed shelling both the U.N. headquarters and the civilian population, Le Roy told reporters at the United Nations.
Since then, they have regained control of two central areas of Abidjan and fighting is continuing, Le Roy said Friday, after briefing the U.N. Security Council on developments in the cocoa-producing nation.
"They have clearly used the lull of Tuesday as a trick to reinforce their position," he said.
Most areas of the capital, however, are now under U.N. or French military control, journalist Seyi Rhodes reported from the French military base in Port Bouet. The French military has been working to reconnect the disrupted water and electricity supply in what is the country's main city.
Rhodes traveled with the French military through Abidjan on Friday and reported seeing civilians in the streets, including one woman selling food, which he took as a positive sign.
There appeared to be a standoff, however, outside Abidjan's Golf Hotel, where Ouattara, is staying under U.N. protection. Gbagbo's forces are outside the hotel, Rhodes said.
Le Roy said that if that hotel comes under attack, the United Nations may have to consider using force against Gbagbo and his men.
Pro-Gbagbo forces have heavy weapons including tanks, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades and are using them "as we speak, against the civilian population" and U.N. headquarters, Le Roy said.
"Those who are saying there are no more heavy weapons -- that Mr. Gbagbo has no more heavy weapons -- it's a lie," he said.
An Abidjan resident told CNN that people were now out and about on the streets but there were no public buses or taxis running. The resident said people were walking to markets and were able to buy food -- mainly rice