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Gbagbo Accused of Recruiting Liberian and Angolan Fighters

   Kandia  Kamara,  spokeswoman  for  rival  Alassane  Ouattara  says the
   mercenaries can be seen all around Abidjan

   James Butty | Washington, D.C. 20 December 2010
   UN troops patrol in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, 12 Dec 2010

Photo: AP

   UN troops patrol in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, 12 Dec 2010

   A  spokeswoman  for  Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognized
   winner   of  last  monthâs  Ivory  Coast  presidential  election  said
   embattled President Laurent Gbagbo has recruited fighters from Liberia
   and Angola to kill supporters of Mr. Ouattara.

   Kandia  Kamara  told  VOA Gbagbo supporters are so far responsible for
   the  deaths  of  as  many  as  120  young  people  around  the Ivorian
   commercial capital of Abidjan.

   She said Mr. Ouattara wants U.N. peacekeepers to remain in Ivory Coast
   to protect Ivorians from Mr. Gbagbo and his alleged foreign fighters.

   âWe  wonder how he can (Mr. Gbagbo) dare (to order UN peacekeepers out
   of the country) because he is no more the president of Ivory Coast. So
   itâs Mr. Ouattara, the present president of Ivory Coast who can decide
   whether they (U.N. peacekeepers) can stay or not,â she said.

   UN  armored  personnel  carriers  (APC)  park  near  the Gulf Hotel in
   Abidjan, 17 Dec 2010

AFP

   UN armored personnel carriers (APC) park near the Gulf Hotel

   Kamara  dismissed claims by Mr. Gbagbo that U.N. peacekeepers had been
   supporting rival Ouattara.

   âItâs  not  Mr. Ouattaraâs side which is supported by the U.N. forces.
   The U.N. forces came here because Mr. Gbagbo asked them to come and to
   help  Ivory  Coast to get rid of the crisis. Thatâs why they are here.
   So  they  didnât come by themselves. And up to now we are still in the
   crisis;  up  to  now  we  are on the verge to have a civil war here in
   Ivory Coast,â Kamara said.

   She  said  Mr. Gbagbo wants the U.N. peacekeepers to leave Ivory Coast
   so  that  the  mercenaries he Gbagbo recruited from Liberia and Angola
   can carry out their killing spree unimpeded.

   âThe  United  Nations is here to protect the Ivorians and the Ivorians
   need  their  protection  because,  as  you  know,  every day they kill
   people;  every  day  they  hurt people. And right now we discovered 65
   people they killed and threw their bodies somewhere in Abobo (a suburb
   of  Abidjan).  He brought a lot of militias. They are from Liberia and
   from  Angola  and they kill people every day, by night and in the day,
   they kill people,â Kamara said.

   Kamara said the militias, allegedly recruited from Liberia and Angola,
   can be seen all around Abidjan.

   âPeople  see  them  everywhere.  They  speak English; they canât speak
   French.  When  they  speak we recognize that they are from Liberia and
   from Angola. Everybody can see them everywhere in Abidjan. Right now I
   can  tell  you  that  we have right now 120 bodies of young people and
   girls killed by those people. The corps(es) are there, and even if you
   like  you  can ask someone in Abidjan to go to the hospital to see the
   bodies.  And  as  I  told  you, we discovered 65 bodies today,â Kamara
   said.

   Several  hundred  peacekeepers  are  said to be protecting the Abidjan
   hotel that serves as Mr. Ouattara's headquarters.

   Mr.  Gbagbo's  youth  leader,  Charles Ble-Goude, Friday called on his
   militia  to  kick  the  10,000 U.N. and 900 French peacekeepers out of
   Ivory Coast.

   Kamara  said she hopes there would be no violent confrontation between
   Gbagbo  supporters  and  the  U.N. peacekeepers because, she said, the
   peacekeepers  are  in  Cote  dâIvoire  to protect Ivorians from forces
   loyal to Mr. Gbagbo.

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