Two generals close to Laurent Gbagbo were Tuesday holding talks to work out the conditions under which he could surrender, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said. UN officials confirm that Gbagbo is ready to throw in the towel.
Foreign Affairs Minister Alain Juppé confirmed that negotiations were taking place to end Gbagbo's attempt to hang on to Côte d'Ivoire's presidency, despite international recognition of his rival, Alassane Ouattara.
"We hope that the fighting will end as quickly as possible," he said.
Gbagbo's Chief of Staff, General Philippe Mangou, has declared that his troops have stopped fighting and demanded a ceasefire with the UN force in the country (Unoci).
The terms should guarantee the safety of troops, civilians, Gbagbo and his family, he said.
"We demand that Unoci ensures that there is no pillaging or witch-hunts," he added.
The UN mission confirmed that Gbagbo is sheltering in the presidetial palace and calling for a ceasefire.
"We are witnessing new developments on the political front in Abidjan," a statement said. Mr Gbagbo's closest advisers, both military and civilian, are leaving him while, with a handful of persons, he is known to have retreated to the basement bunker of the presidential residence," read a statement from Unoci.
It called on the Special Forces which continue fighting in some areas of Abidjan, especially around the presidential palace in Plateau and the presidential residence in Cocody, "to lay down their arms with a view to preserving the life of the civilian population as well as their own life".
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Triple cheers to Sarkozy, to RFI and to the UN
That is what we can say today, Ouattara and his rebels as well as the Libyan opposition receive on golden plates a power symbolically empty.
From vengeful RFI Journalists to a French president whose excesses of the ego are shuddering through a UN instrumentalized by excessive and dementia Western powers, here we are two centuries back to meet the ambitions of Mr. and Mrs. Dominique and Allassane Ouattara.
Sail on, sail on, and again sail on Africa because the road to your resistance is long.
Your quiet sail on the bank of powerful ocean of globalization has failed your children, It is now off the depths of dark nights of your history - that Dominiques French-bred brothers have destroyed in your palace as you sail, - off an African peace, surrounded by one of yours called Allassane Dramane Ouattara that you are going to sail!
Sail on, Sail on and again sail on Africa!
Farewell to the historian of our resistance the Gbagbo darling of Africa, enlightening the entire continent. They call you a baker because you've always been right against the white man with your black skin wisdom, Your historical resistance and your resistance of an historian match only those led by great men of the continent, Lumumba, Sankara, Cabral, Mandela and the greatness of these resistances equals only the pettiness of those who destroyed you.
The song hums in a sadly bitter cocoa coranically:
Cheers to Sarkozi who brings Africa into the dark history to console the inconsolable Dominique you married to Allassan at Neully
Cheers at RFI journalists for the bulimic destruction of African heroes!
Cheers at a United Nations instrumentalized by a powerful West!
And tomorrow we will say long live equality, fraternity and freedom in the shear stress of the atom of uranium! Iran starts and your Druze brothers and those of color will follow to enforce a little bit of respect. The youth has witnessed the history unfolding like the pain of childbirth
Africa has a future and the future that will stand on equal terms!
Patience Kabamba
Finally,finally Mr. Gbagbo "The Great" has agreed to stand down after many lives had been lost.Bravo Mr.Gbagbo for job well done.However,as you prepare to leave the Ivory Coast, ask Mr.Taylor to tell you the breakfast that is offered to him by the court in the Hague.Your behavior and and other wicked African Leaders has made me to know that a wicked man has know conscience.After many Ivorians and other nationals got killed as a result of your selfishness,you are now requesting UN to get you and your family out of the country alive. Our just God is watching and he will reward you justly. May your days in the Hague be fruitful.
Gbagbo does not need to go to the hague. He needs to be judge in the Ivory Coast where he wanted Houphouet Boigny out on a daily bases. He has spoil revenues intented to help poor nations in the world from the UN and destroyed so many people lives. Going to the hague will be a waste of resources that will do good in other parts of the world.
It was better for him to die like " HITLER" then to surrounder like chicken. Gbagbo is just like typical Ivorians...they blow up but nothing behind.
Gbagbo does not need to go to the hague. He needs to be judged in the Ivory Coast where he wanted Houphouet Boigny out on a daily bases. He has spoiled revenues intented to help poor nations in the world from the UN and destroyed so many people lives. Going to the hague will be a waste of resources that will do good in other parts of the world and rewarding him with cake for bad behavior.
It was better for him to die like " HITLER" then to surrounder like chicken. Gbagbo is just like typical Ivorians...they blow up but nothing behind.
If Gbagbo steps down, it is the end of any semblance of democracy in Africa. Allassane Ouattara has been recognized as president of Cote d'Ivoire by the UN, by the US, and by select countries around the world. But one country that has never recognized him is COTE D'IVOIRE. The UN has taken it upon itself to chose leaders in other countries, and if that country should disagree, to enforce their decision with the sword. When embargos failed, when denying Ivorians basic medical care failed, when confiscating the funds of private citizens failed, when supplying rebel armies with funds to burn innocent women and children to death failed, and when even training and inserting those rebel forces into Abidjan failed, Sarkozy put his own army at Allassane's disposal to rape, pillage, plunder, and slaughter his own people. Gbagbo is the only bit of sanity left in the Ivory Coast. If he steps down, the real crimes to humanity will begin - starting with the systematic slaughter of the inhabitants of Cocody. If you don't know the name of that village, you really have no business writing articles about Gbagbo and Abidjan.
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