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Ivory Coast: Gunmen Kill Soldiers Loyal to Laurent Gbagbo

   VOA News  February 23, 2011
   South  African  police  officers stand guard around a car transporting
   President  Jacob  Zuma,  as  he  leaves following a meeting with Ivory
   Coast's  internationally-recognized  president,  Alassane Ouattara, at
   the Golf Hotel in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, February 22,

Photo: AP

   South  African  police  officers stand guard around a car transporting
   President  Jacob  Zuma,  as  he  leaves following a meeting with Ivory
   Coast's  internationally-recognized  president,  Alassane Ouattara, at
   the Golf Hotel in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, February 22, 2011

   Authorities  in  Ivory  Coast say gunmen have shot and killed at least
   three  soldiers  loyal  to  incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo, in the
   capital, Abidjan.
   The violence erupted Tuesday, in a neighborhood that supports Alassane
   Ouattara,   the   United   Nations   certified  winner  of  November's
   presidential election.
   The  shooting  in  Abobo  occurred  on  the same day Ouattara said the
   current  effort  to  resolve the country's political crisis is a "last
   resort."
   Ouattara  met  in  Abidjan  with  four African presidents from a panel
   appointed by the African Union to settle the crisis.
   The AU leaders met on Monday with Mr. Gbagbo, who has resisted intense
   pressure to cede power to Ouattara.
   The  AU  mission  includes  the  presidents  of  South  Africa,  Chad,
   Mauritania and Tanzania.
   Ouattara's  supporters  have  called  for an Egypt-style revolution to
   force out the incumbent president.
   International  and  regional  sanctions against Mr. Gbagbo are driving
   down  Ivory  Coast's  economy.  On Tuesday, Ouattara extended a ban on
   cocoa  imports  to  March 15. The ban is aimed at pressuring Gbagbo to
   relinquish power.

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